Pretty Little Bitches
by Clever-Little-Liar
Summary: Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery and Alison DiLaurentis are married with kids of their own now! But when their kids: Kara, Anna, Zoe, and Rose, start to get texts from -A, it's the liar's kids turns to go through hell.
1. Introduction: Anna and Kara

**AN: Um...Hi. I have never written a story before, but I had a really detailed dream about PLL, and I really wanted to write a whole story around it. I don't really want to babble, but basically, the story is from the prospective of the Liar's daughters. And, if anyone is actually interested in this story, and I get reviews, I would love to continue. Enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own pretty little liars or any other movie, or tv shows mentioned in this chapter!**

* * *

"So, Anna, how was school today?" asked mom, while she ate her chicken parmesan from across the dinner table. There it was. That annoying question that every parent asked. Every day Anna's mom, Spencer Cavanaugh, asked the same question. Like every other day, Anna replied with, "Fine."

Anna's mom just gave her a glare; she knew she hated that answer. After having an intense stare down, Anna said with emotionless tone,

"A in History, A in Chemistry, A- in Algebra, and… B- in English." Anna hesitated with the last one. English was not her strong suit, and B's were not acceptable in the Cavanaugh household.

"B-?" Spencer asked, "I don't like that very much." Anna knew that. She was constantly reminded of that. Anna put her head down.

"Enough, Spencer." Anna's dad, Toby Cavanaugh, said in a stern voice. "As much as I hate to say it, your turning into your mom."

Ah, yes. Veronica Hastings. Anna's grandmother. Let's just say that the Cavanaugh's don't like that side of the family very much.

Spencer sighed and looked at Brendon, Anna's younger brother. He was a freshman. Anna and all her friends were Juniors.

"How are your grades, Brendon?" Spencer asked.

Brendon looked at Anna with a big smile on his face and said, "All A's"

Oh, how Anna hated him.

"Great job." Spencer said with a smile. Toby was smiling too.

Anna, done with her family, cleaned off and put her dishes in the dishwasher and stormed up to her room. She locked her door, turned off all her lights and tried to fall into a thoughtless sleep when her phone buzzed, signaling a text,

 _ **Mommy issues? Grow up and deal with it Bitch!**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

Kara was alone in her room, jamming to her favorite songs. Being alone jamming was her nightly routine. Actually, it was more like a daily routine. Kara was always alone. Her parents, Hanna and Caleb Rivers, were always out. They would never tell her where they were going, which was kinda sketchy. Kara felt like they didn't love her anymore. She knew that wasn't true, but any daughter with parents always gone tends to wonder. Kara finished her last song on her playlist titled "Bedroom Jams _"._ She looked at the clock. Kara threw her head back. It was only 9:30 p.m. Her parents wouldn't be back for several more hours. She already finished her Disney movie marathon, she finished season 3 of glee, and listened to her "Bedroom Jams" playlist twice. Kara thought of what she could do now. It was a Friday night and it was being wasted. She picked up her phone and texted her friend Anna.

 **Hey, super bored. My parents aren't home, wanna sleep over?**

 **-Kara**

Kara lay on her bedroom floor for a few minutes until she got a reply.

 **Sorry, not feeling very well, had a really stressful day. Maybe next week. :(**

 **-Anna**

Kara understood. Anna's family was very strict, she probably got dishonored for her B- in English.

Kara continued to lay on the floor and stared at the ceiling. She focused on her fan. Kara started to count the number of times it made a full rotation. After around one hundred, Kara fell asleep.

* * *

 _Buzz buzz… buzz buzz._

Kara woke with a start. She looked at her phone.

 **One new message**

Kara picked up her phone. It was from a blocked number. Kara unlocked the phone and read the text.

 _ **Oh, come on, Kara, it's a Friday night! You should be partying. Type in 1105. Trust me.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was a picture linked to the text. Kara tensed up when she realized it was a map of her house. There was a red line connecting from her room to the basement.

Kara was freaking out. How would a blocked number know the layout of her house? And who the hell was named A?

Kara knew that there was only one thing to do: Follow the map. Yes, it was stupid, but there was nothing else to do. It was her parent's stupid fault for leaving her alone.

Kara followed the map to her basement. She was hesitant, but she slowly crept down the stairs. She turned on the lights and continued to walk. Kara had her head down and continued to walk until she ran into something cold.

"AHHHHHHHH" Kara screamed. Her immediate reaction told her to punch. God, was she wrong. She ended up punching a big metal safe. Kara started to rub her hand, which was already bruising, and looked at the safe. She recognized it right away. It was her parents liquor safe.

Kara's phone buzzed again.

 _ **Bottoms up!**_

 _ **-A**_

Kara questioned if she should do this. Drink? She was only 17. She typed in the numbers on the padlock. 1-1-0-5. Kara had no clue what that meant, but it worked. The safe was full of beer. Kara grabbed one and popped the lid.

 _Oh what the hell,_ Kara thought as she chugged it.

Oh god, it was awful! The liquid burned her throat as it went down. Kara started to cough. Although, the after taste wasn't that bad. Kara chugged the rest of it. Then she had another one, then another. Kara had a total of five beers before she was passed out on the floor

* * *

 **AN: So that was the first chapter. This took me forever but I was having fun writing it. Yes, Kara's perspective was much longer. Mainly because it was a lot more fun to write. But don't worry. I have a lot in store for Anna. And the next two characters will be introduced in the next chapter.**

 **Did anyone catch the 1105 PLL reference? If you didn't know, that was the password to Caleb's computer in: CTRL: A. That was also the date when Caleb and Hanna first did it.**

 **Please review!**


	2. Introduction: Zoe and Rose

**AN: So this next chapter is going to be an introduction to our next two characters: Rose and Zoe. I have an idea on what I want to happen with the story, but after the next few chapters, I'm going to have to get some ideas so I can continue the story. So please, if you like the story, and you want to see more, give me some ideas, I would be happy to incorporate them.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pll**

* * *

Zoe had a good life. She had three amazing friends, a great education, her parents had good jobs, and she got so much love and affection from her moms. Yes, moms. Zoe's parents were Emily and Alison DiLafields. Their last names were Fields and DiLaurentis, but when they got married, they combined their last names. And no, Zoe was not adopted. Zoe was carried inside of Emily. With a sperm donor, Zoe was created. The bad thing is that Zoe doesn't know who her biological dad is. Her mom's don't even know. Another bad thing is, even though gay marriage is legal in all fifty states, there are still those people who hold a grudge. Like Zoe's English teacher, Ms. McCullers, constantly gave her dirty looks. When Zoe brought this up with Emily, she had a strange look on her face, but both Zoe and her mom brushed it by and never spoke of it again. But back to the stupid people, the ones who still think that gays and lesbians are sinners. Cool, believe what you want. Zoe could care less. But lately, people have been getting violent against Zoe…

 **Flashback:**

Zoe was walking home from school on Friday. There was this one guy, Daniel, who hated Zoe more than he hated anything else in the world. He had been getting a lot more aggressive towards Zoe lately. He would shove her, call her names, he even spit on her once after calling her the daughter of the Devil. Daniel basically did everything that could go under the definition of "Harassment." As she was walking home, Zoe didn't know was that Daniel had been following her.

When Zoe was walking through an empty park was whenever he decided to speak up.

''Hey, Zoe the hoe!" Daniel called out. That was his pet name for Zoe. Even though Zoe was a virgin, and Daniel new that, he could get her to talk about anything. Now, Zoe had never been deathly afraid of Daniel, but after some of his recent actions, she tensed up when she saw him.

''What?'' Zoe replied, as strongly as she could.

"Just wanted to remind you how everybody hates you. Wishes that you would stay at home, never show your woman on woman created face again. Everybody thinks you're a disgusting spawn of satin that needs to crawl in a hole and rot. And we all want you to know, that even our parents hate you! You and your moms!" Daniel made a disgusted face.

"Ew, that sounds so wrong." He said, and then he faked gagged.

Zoe was on the verge of tears. Yea, people gave her dirty looks, called her disgusting, pushed her into lockers. But that all kinda subsided when she started to hang around Anna, Kara and Rose.

"I just think your jealous that I-" Zoe tried to say bravely, but she was cut off.

''Jealous of what.'' That you live in an abnormal family that everyone hates."

And then Daniel hit her.

An aching slap across the face that was sure to leave a mark.

Zoe fell to the ground, tears now streaming down her flushed red face.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe sobbed out.

"Why don't you ask your mom, Emily, about my dad? His names Ben Coogan."

And with that, Daniel walked away with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Zoe walked the rest of the way home with her head down, and when she returned home, she rushed up to her room, without even saying hello to her moms, to cover the red mark in makeup.

When she came down for dinner, her mom Alison asked, "So, how was your day today, Honey?"

Zoe put on a fake smile that made her cheek sting.

"Great."

After dinner, Zoe went up to her room to get ready for her shower. She checked her phone to see if she had any messages.

She did.

 _ **Tell them or I will.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was a video attachment along with the text. It was a video of the whole incident with Daniel.

Maybe Zoe's life wasn't that good.

* * *

Rose had fallen asleep on the couch, next to her parents Aria and Ezra Fitz. They were in the middle of some black and white movie that Rose didn't remember the name of. She awoke to the sound of her parents having a conversation.

"This is interesting and everything, but I still prefer Shakespeare." Her dad said.

Rose was awake, but she didn't say anything, she didn't even open her eyes. Her parents were always really cautious around Rose. They never had heart to heart conversations.

So, Rose lay there, with her head on her mother's knees, and her feet resting in her father's lap.

"Yes, Shakespeare is the best author, but you get a way better visual from watching a film. You can see the characters emotions; get a good feel of what they look like." Her mother replied.

Rose was about to go back to sleep, this was the kinda stuff they always talked about. Rose almost flung up when she heard her father say,

"I'm kind of worried about Rose."

What? _Is there something wrong with me?_ Rose thought. She thought she was a normal child.

Rose was so caught up with her thoughts that she almost missed her mother's reply.

"What do you mean? What's bothering you?" Mrs. Fitz replied in a worried tone.

"The fact that she is seventeen and has never had a boyfriend."

Ouch. Was that his problem? Rose had three amazing friends, why would she need a boyfriend right now? Rose didn't want one.

"What are you implying, Ezra?" Aria replied. Rose didn't even have to open her eyes; she knew her mother was worried. Rose could feel her mother tense up.

"Do you think Rose could be like us? I mean, you were my student when we first started dating, do you think we could have passed it down?"

Wait, hold up. Rose's mom and dad, the people she looks up too, dated in high school! They had a teacher and his student relationship! Rose wasn't very good at math, but she knew that Teacher+Student= Jail.

"I don't know. I wouldn't think of her doing that, but I also would have never seen myself dating a teacher either. Rose only has three friends, and she is out every day, she could easily sneak a date in there." Her mom replied.

That was enough. Rose regretted staying up, she wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep and not wake up till tomorrow morning, but she could not let her parents think this.

Rose sat straight up, which caused her parents to jump in shock.

"First of all, ouch, second of all, I have plenty of friends; third of all, you guys obviously don't know me well enough if you think I would ever break a law as big as that, and lastly, WHAT THE HECK YOU TWO WERE DATING WHEN, MOM, YOU WERE A STUDENT, AND, DAD, YOU WERE HER TEACHER!"

Mr. and Mrs. Fitz faces were flushed red.

"How much of that did you hear?" Aria asked, her voice cracking from embarrassment in the middle of her sentence.

"Since your debate between films and Shakespeare." Rose said angrily.

"So, all of it?" Rose's dad asked.

Rose nodded her head. Many minuets of silence passed before Rose started to walk to her room. She was so angered at the fact that her parents never told her something as big as this. No, Rose was not angered at the fact that they had a freaking student teacher relationship, she was mad at the fact that she had been alive for seventeen years, and how they met, how they fell in love, their first date, the first kiss, the first time they said "I love you," had never been brought up.

Halfway up the stairs Rose turned around to look at her parents. In a serious tone she said,

"You know, I would never keep something that big from you. Ever. Next time, if you have a problem, just tell me so I don't have to sneak around to hear the truth."

Then Rose continued to walk up the stairs. When she reached her room, she got a text.

 _ **Don't be such a liar Rose. It will only be a matter of time until your last petal falls. I know what you've done.**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

 **AN: So that was chapter two. This took me two days. The next chapter is when you will see all the girls together for the first time. You will also find out Rose's secret. Sorry if the story is moving kinda slow, I just want to introduce all the characters and let you see all the things A has against them. Also, next chapter is going to be a informational page. It will just have all the girls main info. Their height, hair color, eye color, their parents. Stuff like that. Okay, have a nice day!**

 **PLEASE FAVORITE, FOLLOW, OR AT LEAST REVIEW! TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO IMPROVE ON!**


	3. Important Character Information

**AN: As I said in my last chapter, this chapter is just an information sheet. Now that you have met the four main characters, I will describe how they look. Any other new characters introduced to the story I will describe briefly, and leave the rest of their features up to you :)**

 **Shout out to Chayboo01 for being my first follower and favoriter.**

 **And a shout out to Calicocats45 for following and reviewing!**

 **See, what happens when you reply, you get a special shoutout ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I most certainly DO NOT own Pll**

* * *

Anna:

 **Parents:** Spencer and Toby Cavanaugh

 **Hair:** Light brown

 **Eyes:** Green

 **Height:** 5'7

*Note that Anna is the only character with a sibling: Brendon, who is a freshman at high school.

* * *

Kara:

 **Parents:** Hanna and Caleb Rivers

 **Hair:** Dirty blonde

 **Eyes:** Hazel

 **Height:** 5'6

* * *

Zoe:

 **Parents:** Emily and Alison DiLafields (combined last names)

 **Hair:** Blonde

 **Eyes:** Brown

 **Height:** 5'6

* * *

Rose:

 **Parents:** Aria and Ezra Fitz

 **Hair:** Black

 **Eyes:** Blue

 **Height:** 5'3

*Note that Rose is the shortest of the group, just like Aria is in the original four.

** Also note that Rose has a meaning behind her name. I will reveal it in one of the next few chapters.

* * *

 _ **-A:**_

… _ **.Yeah right, you thought I was going to tell you….**_

* * *

Basic information:

-All the girls are juniors at rosewood high.

-They will have some qualities as their parents.

-All of their hair lengths are anywhere around the shoulders or breasts.

-All of their eye colors are the same as one of their parents, except Anna, whose eyes are a rare occurrence between blue (Toby) and brown (Spencer).

-Same with the hair. Although Kara has dirty blonde as a result from Hanna's hair being blonde, and Caleb's hair being brown.

-Kara has naturally wavy hair.

-Anna and Rose have naturally straight hair.

-Zoe's hair is just hair, it does what she wants, she usually wears her hair up.

 _ **-A**_ has something against all of them.

* * *

Things _**–A**_ has against the girls:

Anna: Main problem not quite introduced yet, grades.

Kara: Alcohol, lack of her parents being around, vulnerable.

Zoe: Her being bullied about her moms, Daniel hitting her, the video, who her dad is, and a problem that will be introduced later in the story.

Rose: _**"I know what you've done."**_ And something not introduced yet.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you can get a better visual now.**

 **Remember: I will still take your suggestions on anything!**


	4. Coffee BreAk

**AN: Ok, so since I published the character information chart, I gained three more followers:**

 **Pinkcrazyness**

 **Venna26**

 **Rdpll-Glee**

 **I also got another review from a guest. You know who you are! Thank you your review means a lot to me!**

 **I also received 3 new favoriters!**

 **PottericaTwilighterVictoria**

 **Rdpll-Glee**

 **Venna26**

 **Thank you guys! :)**

 **So in this chapter, you are going to see the girls all together. I will also incorporate each girl's perspective into this chapter, so this chapter might be long.**

 **Thanks! 3**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or any of the beer brands or NFL teams that may be listed in this chapter.**

* * *

Anna had just reached her destination when she got Zoe's text:

 **WHERE ARE YOU?! WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR TEN MINUETS!**

 **-Zoe**

It was Saturday afternoon. Every Saturday, Anna, Kara, Zoe and Rose all met up at the brew. Anna was late because she wanted to have a talk with her mom about last night.

* * *

 **Flashback: (Saturday morning)**

"Mom, can we talk?" Anna asked, in a polite tone. Anna wanted to start off safe, with a nice tone so her mother could figure out that Anna was serious.

Spencer Cavanaugh looked up from her work.

"Sure, what is it?"

Anna put on a brave face and said,

"I want you to know that I am not you. I'm not perfect. I don't stress over a B-, I stress over F's and D's, I stress over the rude comments Brendon gives me, I stress over my asthma. But the biggest thing I stress over is you, mom. I worry about displeasing you, more than I stress over my own appearance. And yea, I get that you were raised the way that you're raising me, but like I said before, I am not you. I don't want to be a perfect student; I don't want to be a therapist like you. I want to be a teenager. I want to go out and have fun; I want to hang out with my friends. I want to be able to go to parties and not be worried about that sad, displeasing look that you have perfected. That look that I have seen a thousand times. I am not you, and you are not **your** mom. Mom, you are not Veronica Hastings. I know how much you hate her, how she destroyed your life and didn't let you be a teenager. But like what dad said last night, you are just like her! So please, please forgive me if I am being selfish. But I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to please you and only you. Just give me a break."

Anna's voice cracked on the last sentence. Then Anna started to cry. She just spilled her soul out to her mother. Anna also wanted to tell her mother about the A text she got last night, but she felt like that wasn't relevant right now. Anna also hoped she would never get a text like that again, since she did what the text said.

Anna grew up, and stood up against her mom.

Anna was still crying, which caused her mom to cry. Spencer got up from her seat and stood in front of her daughter.

"I'm sorry." She said in a soft voice. "I didn't know I was breaking you."

Spencer hugged Anna and then Spencer started to cry. Before they both new it, they were on the couch talking about some of the happiest moments of their lives.

* * *

"Your father and I had the weirdest first kiss, I can tell you that." Anna's mom said with a laugh.

"Come on, how weird could it have been?"

"We were stalking his step-sister!"

Anna and Spencer were both now cracking up. They were being as loud as they wanted, Toby was at work, he was a police officer, and Brenden was at a basketball game with his friends.

That half hour with her mom was one of the happiest moments of Anna's life. She wished everyday could be like this with her mom.

* * *

Anna, thinking of that morning, walked into the brew with a smile on her face. She found her friends in their usual spots and sat down.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Zoe asked Anna as she sat down.

Zoe really wanted to talk to her friends about what happened to her. Her face was starting to bruise, and soon enough, not even all the makeup in the world could cover it up.

"Sorry," Anna said, "I was talking with my mom"

Fair enough.

"I have something I really need to talk to you guys about." Zoe said, with sweat dripping down her neck.

"Can you please stop yelling?" Kara peeped up in a groggy voice. She was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. Not her usual style. Plus, she was wearing sunglasses. Indoors.

"I'm not-'' Zoe was cut off.

"Shh" Kara said in a whisper, as she leaned across the table to put a finger over Zoe's mouth.

"Kara, what the hell is wrong with you? You smell like alcohol." Rose said, with a disgusted look on her face.

"Yeah, well that's because I'm hungover." Kara said, annoyed.

"WHAT!'' The three girls yelled ecstatically.

"SHH"

"Kara, why the hell were you drinking!" Anna asked in a serious tone.

"My parents were gone, as usual, and I was lonely and sad and a million other things. And…. And then I got a text. It was a map that led me to the basement where the liquor safe is and well….. HERE I AM!"

Kara screamed her last sentence.

"Ok, Kara, shut up!" Rose said in a serious tone.

Rose nodded her head towards the register.

"There is a cop over there looking at us." Rose finished.

Rose was right. There was a cop. The cop made eye contact with Zoe and started to walk towards them.

"Crap, Kara, don't say anything." Zoe implied quickly.

"Hello ladies." The cop said. She was tall, and had raven black hair tied up into a ponytail. She also had eyes so dark, they looked black. She didn't look that much older that the girls. She was, at most, five years older. But her face has a natural calmness to it, enough to make Zoe not worry too much.

"Hello officer…" Zoe looked at her name sewed into her uniform. "Victoria."

Victoria turned towards Kara.

"Hello young lady."

Zoe was nervous, Kara was super hungover, and if she said anything wrong, Kara could be in jail.

"How do I sign up for cop school, I want a big silver badge!'' Kara slurred.

That was it, she was for sure caught.

"You drunk young lady?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kara said intently.

Oh my god, Kara was such an idiot, she was for sure going to jail.

Victoria stared at Kara for what seemed like forever.

"Happens to the best of us. I would be a hypocrite if I said I never drank underage, so I'll let you have this one, but if I catch you again, off to jail." Victoria said.

Can cops do that? Oh well, it didn't matter, Kara wasn't going to jail.

"Thanks miss police lady!" Kara said happily.

And with that the police officer was gone.

"Ok back to what we were talking about, what made you drink, Kara?" Asked Anna.

"Nobody made me, I just had help." Kara replied

"From who?"

Zoe was getting nervous. The whole reason for this meeting was for Zoe to tell everyone about her and Daniel. Also that so received a text from A.

"Someone named A" Kara said, then she took a sip of water.

Zoe was in shook. It looked like everybody was. Everyone's faces turned white.

"Kara wasn't the only one who received a text from A, was she?" Anna asked in a small voice.

They all shook their heads, implying they all got a text.

It was silent.

Then Zoe remembered why she was here.

"That reminds me," Zoe stated, "I wanted to tell you all something."

They all stared at Zoe, waiting for her to continue.

"You guys know Daniel right."

They nodded their heads. Of course they knew who Daniel was, they were around Zoe when he said most of his nasty words to her.

"Well," Zoe started, "he followed me home yesterday. He said his usual comments like, 'Zoe the hoe, child of satin, everybody hates you.' Stuff like that."

The three looked at Zoe with concern.

"Then what?" Anna urged.

"I tried to talk back. I wanted to be brave, you know. I wasn't able to finish my sentence. He hit me before I could do it."

They all gasped,

"HE HIT YOU!" Rose yelled in concern.

Zoe nodded. She then pulled out a makeup remover wipe and removed the makeup from her cheek. Where perfect skin used to be, was were a purple bruise now lay."

"Zoe, Daniel didn't hit you, he full on punched you!" Kara said astonishingly.

"That night I got a text from A saying to tell my parents or they will. There was a video of the whole thing attached to it. I wanted you guys to know first."

"We will all be there when you tell your moms." Anna said.

"Thanks guys." Zoe piped up. She smiled, which still stung her cheek.

Everyone went in for a group hug around Zoe.

After that, Kara said, "Well, I think I should be heading home now."

"Oh, not like that you're not!" Anna said. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

"Okay." Kara said with a yawn.

"I'm going to stay here." Rose said. I'm going to get some homework done.

"Ok, I'm going to head home to." Said Zoe.

With that. They were all off.

* * *

"You need to be more careful." Anna said, concerned.

"What if you passed out, what if you fell down the stairs, or what if your parents caught you!" Anna stated.

"Well, I did pass out." Kara murmured.

"KARA! Why didn't you call any of us when you woke up?" Anna looked at Kara in disbelief.

"When I woke up, I had five minutes to come meet you guys at the brew."

Anna just had a sad look on her face as she continued to drive Kara home.

Kara was much more sober now, she could talk without slurring, could walk straight (kinda), and she could think straight. Her head still pounded though.

She thought back to the morning for when she first woke up.

* * *

Kara woke up with a massive headache.

"Owwwwwwww" she dragged on. Her head killed.

She looked around her. Kara had fallen asleep in the middle of family room floor.

She must've made her way up there from the basement last night. She couldn't remember.

Speaking of last night, Kara tried her best to remember everything that happened.

was alone

2\. She was bored

3\. She was annoyed

4\. She fell asleep

5\. She was awoken by a text

6\. It was a map from A

7\. She walked to the basement and drank

8\. N/A

9\. She woke up on the family room floor 2 minutes ago

Kara looked around her and saw five beer bottles lying around her.

That's right, she had five beers. Kara looked at the clock.

12:55! She had to meet Rose, Zoe and Anna at the brew in five minutes!

Kara quickly grabbed a garbage bag, picked up the bottles and threw them away in the garbage cans outside.

Then she ran to her car (bad idea) and drove to the brew. Don't worry, she was slow.

* * *

Kara and Anna pulled into Kara's driveway.

"Thanks. I'll walk to the brew later and pick up my car." Kara said as she got out of Anna's car.

"Don't ever drink that much again until you're of age, okay?" Anna said seriously.

"I won't"

Kara made her way up the steps to her front door. It was 2:30 p.m. now, so Kara's parents should be home.

Kara opened the door and the first thing she heard was,

"KARA ASHLEY RIVERS GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Kara's mom screamed.

Uh oh, the full name. First, middle, and last. Kara's mom must have known something was up. Did she leave a bottle out? Did she leave the safe open? Did the family room smell like alcohol?

Kara walked into the family room where her mom and dad both stood with angry faces.

"Wha- OH MY GOD!" Kara said as her draw dropped.

There was at least 20 bottles of beer on the floor. Kara's memory might have been foggy, but she knew she did not have 20 beers. Plus, Kara picked up the five bottles that were laying on the ground when she woke up.

"Oh, save it, Kara!" Her dad said.

"What the hell did you do?" Mrs. Rivers said angrily.

Kara's mouth was still hanging open. How was she going to explain this!

She figured she would tell her parents the truth, minus the A thing. She wanted her story to sound true, and saying she got a text from a person named A, with a map and the password to the safe, was pushing it.

"Okay, look," Kara began, "Yes, I did drink last night. But I did _not_ have this much! I had five beers! Plus, I cleaned them up! And I know that there is no excuse for drinking under age, but you have to know that I was lonely. You guys are gone all the time, and I am running out of ways to entertain myself. So when I found the liquor safe, I started fiddling around until I guessed the correct password, and when I opened it, I thought that one beer wouldn't hurt. I ended up having five, but I swear, I have no idea how twenty ended up here! I swear to God, I did not drink this much please believe me!"

Hanna and Caleb Rivers looked at Kara, still with disappointed looks on their faces. They turned and walked to the kitchen, having a brief discussion that Kara couldn't hear.

After a few minutes, they walked over to Kara.

"Kara," Hanna began, "We get we are not home a lot, so we figured how lonely you got. But never, EVER, do this again!"

"Here." Kara's dad handed her a garbage bag. "Just clean it up"

He had a sad look on his face. Kara's mother did too. Kara just wished that her parents would tell her why they were gone all the time.

Kara grabbed the bag, happy with her punishment, and started to clean up the bottles.

She was halfway done when her parents walked up the stairs to their room.

As Kara was cleaning the bottles up she noticed something weird about the bottles. The brand was "Seagrams Escapes" Kara was drinking "Blue moon" last night. Also, on all the bottles, the "a" in "Seagrams" was capitalized.

Kara's face flushed white as she realized who put all the bottles in her house.

She turned one of the bottle over and a note fell out.

Typed in bold letters, the note said:

 _ **Next time, you should lock you lock your door.**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

Rose could not stop thinking about what Zoe said about her text from A. Then Rose started to think about _her_ text from A:

"I know what you've done."

You're probably wondering what Rose has done.

Well, back when Rose's mom was a teenager, there was someone getting in the way of Aria and Ezra. His name was Jason DiLaurentis. Zoe's uncle! The threat only lasted for a little while though. But, Jason came back to Rosewood a year ago. He was single and looked good. He asked Aria if he could meet her at the brew to "catch up." Yea okay, Rose didn't trust him. Plus, Aria wanted to meet him in privet, without Ezra knowing because she knew that Ezra would freak out. Rose didn't like that, so as soon as she found out, Rose trashed Jason's car. She took a golf club to his windows, ripped off the bumper, Rose did everything she could to make sure that Jason got the point. And it worked. Jason barley talks to the Fitz family.

What really gets down to Rose's core, is that the carjacking was blamed on Rose's uncle, Mike Montgomery. He is known for destroying vehicles. Now, Rose's aunt and uncle, Mike and Mona Montgomery, were not allowed near the Fitz house. And Rose felt terrible about it. Ezra found out of the Jason/Aria meeting and was pretty upset about it, he ignored his wife for a week, but he missed her and they talked again.

Rose was scared to death that her parents would find out that it was her that ruined Jason's car. Now, with A, Rose had to be careful and make sure that her parents never find out.

Rose wanted to get the idea out of her head.

Rose turned to her homework in confusion. She sucked at math. She gave up on her last question and got up to go get some more coffee.

While at the register, Rose got a text:

 _ **I hope you like your coffee scorching hot.**_

 _ **-A**_

What?

Just as Rose finished her thought, hot coffee was spilled all over her.

"GAH!" She screamed!

"Oh, my god I am so sorry! I did not mean to do that!"

Rose looked over at who apologized to her.

It was a boy. He looked a little older than Rose. He had short, brown, curly hair and had soft brown eyes. He was also really tall.

The coffee was burning into Rose's skin.

"God, how hot do you get your coffee?" Rose said angrily.

"Hey I'm sorry I didn't see you!" He said with worry.

Rose looked down at her coffee stained blouse. He must have noticed.

"Oh, here take my sweatshirt," He said as he took of his Steelers NFL sweatshirt. He then gave it to Rose, which she gladly wore.

"Thanks" She said kindly.

"Can I make it up you? Can I buy you a coffee? He asked

"Oh, no thanks, I'm kinda sick of coffee right now." Kara said as she looked at the empty coffee cup in the boy's hand.

"Oh, right." He said, and then he laughed.

Rose looked at him. She liked this kid. He seemed generally sorry for spilling coffee on her. Plus he is letting her use his sweatshirt, which probably cost a lot of money. Rose wanted to get to know him.

"I'm Rose." She said, extending her hand,

"Zak" Zak said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Cool name." He added. "What does it mean?"

"Well, my parents are big Shakespeare freaks, and a rose is a big symbol for him. So when I was born, they named me Rose." Rose stated.

"Cool, I'm named Zak because my parents thought it sounded cool." Zak said which caused Rose to laugh.

"Is there anything else I can do for you then?" Zak asked after shaking Rose's hand.

"You can help me with my homework. I suck at math." Rose said sarcastically.

"Oh yea I can do that. I'm a junior at Hollis, I'm majoring in mathematics." Zak said.

"I was joking but, okay!" Rose said, laughing at the end of her sentence.

Zak easily solved Rose's math equation.

"How did you do that so fast?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"I can teach you. Here, have my number, I can tutor you."

Rose blushed, she would happily take his number.

"I'll text you tonight okay, we can figure out a schedule." Zak said as he stood up.

"Ok." Rose said. "Talk to you tonight."

"Bye."

''Bye''

Rose drove home smiling.

* * *

 **An: So here is chapter three . This took FOREVER but it was really fun to write.**

 **Yas Rose, get them digits!**

 **And did anyone catch the "He is known for destroying vehicles." When Rose was talking about Mike. That was a reference to when Mike destroyed Connor's car when Connor spread the rumor that him and Aria had sex. I thought I would throw that in there.**

 **Also, I** _ **DO NOT**_ **recommend drinking and driving, or underage drinking, Kara is just an idiot. And also, points to Anna for standing up to Spencer! I'm proud of her for doing that.**

 **And also, please ignore all the selling errors if there is any, this took forever to write and I don't feel like reading it over. Lol**

 **I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you are having fun reading so please like, favorite, and review!**

 **Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	5. Confessions

**AN: I would love to welcome three new followers into my PLB family!**

 **AriaEzraDaisy**

 **Snowflake280**

 **Tremanilevi24**

 **I would also love to announce two new favoriters:**

 **AriaEzraDaisy**

 **Tremanilevi24**

 **You guys are the bomb!**

 **So, I'm trying to come up with a publishing schedule, so I think I might try to publish a chapter every other day. But I'm still not positive. Until I figure it out, this story is just going to be all over the place.**

 **Please bear with me!**

 **Thanks! 3**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars**

* * *

The first thing Kara did Sunday morning was buy a lock.

Yes, Kara's house already had a lock **,** but after her A message, she wanted to be sure that that monster would never be inside of her house again.

Kara didn't buy a cheap lock. She bought one of those high tech, complicated, has to be hooked up to the door, alarm setting ones.

Yes, they were very expensive, and Kara did **not** have that kind of money. So, Kara used her mom's credit card.

Kara knew it was wrong and that she was already in enough trouble with the whole beer thing, but Kara was looking out for her family. Kara was making sure they were all safe.

Kara opened the box, and then closed it. It looked way too complicated for her. Kara figured she would call Anna, because she would know what all this stuff was, and ask her to help set it up.

Kara took the box over to the kitchen table and set it down. She took a picture and started scrolling through her contacts to find Anna's name.

When Kara found Anna's contact, her mom walked in the front door.

"Hey honey, how are- What is that?" Kara's mom asked as she saw the box on the table.

"An alarm system, I thought we could use it… because you can never be too safe."

Kara was about to say "So A can't get inside again." But Kara stopped herself. She didn't go through with it. She wouldn't put her mom through that after Kara's beer incident.

Kara's mom stared at her, expressionless.

"Um, where's dad?" Kara asked, trying to change the subject.

"That's not important right now." Hanna Rivers said angrily, changing the subject back.

Kara was confused, why was her mother mad at her? It's just an alarm system. And why wouldn't her mom tell her where her dad was.

"What are you so angry, mom, it's just alarm system?" Kara asked.

"How much money did it cost?" Hanna asked, closing her eyes.

"Three hundred dollars. And I used your credit card. Sorry." Kara said in a small voice.

Kara's mother breathed out. She opened her eyes and looked at Kara.

She was crying.

"Mom?" Kara asked, really confused.

Kara walked over to her mom and hugged her.

"I can take it back if it bugs you, and I'll never use your credit card again, and I'll do all the chores around the house and I'll-"

Kara was interrupted by her mom. "No Kara, I'm upset that you went behind my back, but… that's just so much money. And… and your father and I…."

Hanna started to cry again.

Kara took her mother's hand and guided her towards the couch.

"What's wrong mom?" Kara said gently, once they sat down.

Kara started rubbing her mother's back. Yes, Kara's mom was never around, but that didn't matter. She had never seen her mom cry. Hanna Rivers was tough, so something really bad must be going on. Kara just hoped it had nothing to do with her dad.

Hanna looked at her daughter.

"It's funny. I should be the one rubbing your back. I should be the one holding you while you cry. I'm your mother; I should be helping you with _your_ problems. Not vice versa. But I'm not. Because I'm never home. I can't be a good mom. I'm stressing Kara."

Kara looked at her mom and nodded. She didn't want to interrupt. Kara could tell that this was hard for her mom. So, she sat there and listened while tears strolled down both of their faces.

Kara's mother continued,

"The reason why your father and I are always out, and why he's gone now, is that we are constantly working. I have two jobs Kara! And your dad has three! We shouldn't have more than one! And as we work our butts of, we still don't have money for taxes. And now, the bank is threatening to take away our house."

God, how are you supposed to comfort someone after that? Kara tried her best.

"They are _not_ going to take our house, mom. I won't let them. I'm going to do everything I can to keep this house. First order of business: Take back that alarm system!"

Kara then got up and walked over to the box.

"Kara wait," Hanna said, as she stood up and walked over to Kara, "Keep that alarm system. 'You can never be too safe'"

Kara and her mom were now both smiling.

Kara looked outside to see the rain pouring down, she even heard thunder every once and a while.

"Why don't you pop up some popcorn and pick out a movie?"

Kara smiled even bigger and ran to the kitchen to retrieve the popcorn.

Having an afternoon with her mom sounded amazing to Kara.

* * *

Zoe decided that today was the day that she would tell her mom's that Daniel had hit her.

She was planning on waiting another week or so until she told her parents, but Zoe got a text this morning:

 _ **Tick tock.**_

 _ **-A**_

Zoe picked up her phone and started a group message on her phone with Kara, Rose and Anna. She knew that she could not do this alone.

She was about to start typing when a storm warning popped up of Zoe's phone.

Zoe knew her friends, they wouldn't want to leave there houses in the middle of the storm. They were all new drivers.

Zoe had to do it by herself.

She made her way downstairs.

"Moms?" Zoe called when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"In here Zoe!" Zoe heard Emily call from the family room.

Zoe made her way through the kitchen to the family room. She started to take deep breaths as she made her way over there. Zoe was so freaking scared.

She walked into the dimly lit room to see her parents cuddling on the couch.

"Hey, Zoe, what's up?" Alison asked, all cheery.

Zoe took one last deep breath.

"I really need to tell you guys something." Zoe said with a shaking tone.

Her mothers' faces turned serious.

"What is it?" Emily asked, as she patted the couch cushion next to her, signaling for Zoe to sit down. She did.

"Well, um." Zoe began, she was nervous as hell, "Well for a while, there has been this guy at school harassing me. It was nothing to serious. It mainly consisted of name calling. He hated the fact that I had two mothers and um, I was walking home on Friday, and he was following me."

Zoe stopped. She looked at her mom's faces. They were sad. This sucked because she hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet.

Zoe continued, "He stopped me and started to do his usual name calling. But I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be brave, so I stood up to him. He didn't like that."

Zoe walked over to go turn on the light. She had no makeup on, so her bruise that covered the left side of her face was fully exposed.

Zoe flicked on the light and her mother's gasped.

"He hit me." Zoe finished.

"Zoe, what was this kids name, I'm about to go get him arrested!" Alison said as she stood up.

"He said that Emily knew his dad, and that he hit me because of it." Zoe said

Emily was now standing too with a questioning look on her face.

"His name is Daniel Coogan. His dad's name it Ben Coogan."

Emily's face cleared with realization.

"I dated Ben for a while until I dumped him when I came out." Emily said,

"Zoe, you're not going to school tomorrow, and I'm calling the police to have this kid punished." Alison said walking over to the phone.

"Mom, no it's not a big deal!" Zoe said.

She didn't want her mom to call the police; she knew that would cause worse behavior from Daniel.

"Zoe, if we don't give Daniel a punishment, he is going to continue with the violence." Emily stated.

That was also true. And it's not like she could stop Alison, she had already dialed the number.

"Hello, my name is Alison DiLafileds, I would like to report a hate crime against my daughter…" Alison continued in another room.

Zoe sat on the couch as her phone buzzed

 _ **You tell them anything about me, and I'll make sure you have more than just a bruise.**_

 _ **-A**_

Zoe face flushed white.

Emily noticed.

"Honey, you okay?" Emily asked her daughter.

"Uh, yea, I'm just nervous." Zoe replied.

Alison walked back to the family room and said,

"The police our on their way for questioning."

"What! Right now?" Zoe said in shock.

"Don't worry, just tell them what you told us and you should be fine. Just tell them the truth." Emily said calmly.

"Yea, they'll be here in five minutes." Alison said.

* * *

 _Knock…knock…knock._

They were here.

Zoe was so nervous, she hated police.

Alison opened the door for them.

Zoe blew out a breath of relief when she saw the two cops. She knew who both of them were.

It was Toby Cavanaugh, Anna's dad, and Victoria, the cop from the coffee shop.

Emily hugged Toby when she saw him. They were longtime friends. Then both cops walked to where Zoe was sitting.

Victoria's looked shocked when she saw Zoe.

"Hey, you're from the coffee shop. I would say happy to see you again, but then again, it's never good to see a cop." Victoria said to Kara.

"You know each other?" Toby asked Victoria.

"Yea, Rose, Kara, Anna and I all met Victoria at the brew." Zoe replied for Victoria.

"Yep, they didn't do anything bad, it's okay." Victoria winked at Zoe.

The cops then sat across from Zoe at the kitchen table.

"Okay Zoe, tell us everything that happened when you were walking home Friday. Don't leave out any details." Mr. Cavanaugh said seriously.

Zoe told them everything. Just like Toby asked.

"We believe you Zoe, but we can't press charged unless there is any evidence." Victoria said, looking Zoe in the eye.

Zoe thought about her first A text. She did have the video that A had sent her. Then Zoe thought about her latest A text.

"No, I don't have anything." Zoe lied.

"Come on, there has to be something you can do!" Alison pleaded.

"Not anything major, but we will question Daniel." Toby said.

The two cops stood up to leave.

"Thank you for your time." Victoria said, she then sent a warm smile over to Zoe.

"We will get back to you." Victoria added.

Then the cops were gone.

"I can't believe they aren't doing anything." Emily said, annoyed.

"It's okay mom, they will do something." Zoe said to Emily.

Zoe looked at the clock. It was 10:37 p.m.

"I'm tired, it's been a long day, I'm just going to go to bed." Zoe said to her moms.

"Okay, love you." Her moms said in unison.

Zoe laid down on her bed and texted Rose, Kara, and Anna:

 **Hey, I just told my moms about the Daniel thing. We told the police and there going to try to give him some kind of punishment. Until there is one, I'm not going to be at school.**

 **-Zoe**

Zoe fell asleep before she could even look at her friend's replies.

* * *

 **AN: I hoped you all liked chapter 4!**

 **It might be a while until I post again.**

 **But I also might update tomorrow, like I said, this story is going to be all over the place.**

 **AND I'M GOING TO START NEEDING IDEAS!**

 **I NEED LOVE INTERESTS FOR ZOE AND KARA! I ALSO NEED A STORY LINE FOR KARA.**

 **I basically have writers block for Kara, so if you could review and tell me ideas I would be grateful and I would give you credit!**

 **Everyone else I have a pretty good idea for.**

 **Please review I am in desperate need.**

 **Thanks! 3**

 **-Jessica**


	6. You take my breAth away

**AN: We have one new follower and favoriter!**

 **Lara1998**

 **Welcome!**

 **Okay, I got some reviews and I have a pretty good idea on what I want to do now for Kara.**

 **And also, if you review and I don't use your idea, it's not because I don't like it, it's most likely because I already have an idea for that character.**

 **And also, I mentioned in one of the chapters that Anna has asthma, so when I'm writing in her perspective and she starts to have small asthma attacks or something and the facts are not correct, I'm sorry. I don't have asthma so I don't know the symptoms so please bear with me.**

 **Love you guys!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PLL**

* * *

Anna hated gym.

She didn't hate it because of the running, the exercise, or dodgeball, running the mile or anything like that.

Anna hated it because she could barely do all those things. You see, Anna had asthma. She had _really bad_ asthma.

But lately, it's been getting better. Anna knew how to limit herself. She knew what she could and could not do.

Soccer.

That's what Anna was doing in gym today.

This was something she could do. Barely.

Anna was assigned as goal keeper. You don't have to run much.

Anna had gym with Kara, who was actually really good at soccer.

I mean, as we speak, Kara was kicking the ball towards the goal.

Kara kicked, and she made it! Anna could hear her from across the field shouting,

"WHOOP WHOOP!"

Anna looked at her and started to laugh quietly. She was in a really good mood today.

"Hey, can I take goalie?"

Oh crap. It was Dylan.

Let's just say this. Anna had the biggest crush on Dylan for the longest time. What sucked is that Anna was too much a coward to even talk to him.

But now, Anna had a new found confidence. Ever since she stood up to her mom, Anna wasn't scared to say anything anymore. But her confidence couldn't help her now.

Dylan had a girlfriend. Chelsey.

What a stupid name.

Anna looked at Dylan.

Dylan was around the same height as Anna. He had black spiked hair and blue eyes.

Anna looked at Dylan, preparing to say "no, I would like to breath." But that didn't happen.

"Yea sure," Anna said as she stepped away from the goal.

"Thanks Anna!" He said.

Hey, at least he knew her name.

Anna stepped out to the middle of the field, where Dylan used to stand.

The coach blew his whistle.

Anna had no idea what to do, so she just stood there. She looked at Kara, who had the ball.

Kara and Anna then made eye contact and Kara did the stupidest thing ever.

She passed the ball to Anna.

"Kara!" Anna yelled as the ball reached her.

"RUN!" The coach yelled at Anna.

Anna didn't want to, but she ran.

She ran all the way across the field. She was almost at the goal when she got chest pains.

Anna kept running, she didn't want to look stupid in front of Dylan.

She ran and ran, she kept moving her feet, but it felt like she wasn't going anywhere.

Anna had to stop.

She stopped and before she knew it, someone took the ball away from her.

Anna started to wheeze and cough, and her heart was beating fast.

Anna sat down in the middle of the field.

She had no idea what was going on in the game. Someone had probably scored.

Yet, Anna still sat there. It was three minutes until someone noticed her.

"Hey, are you okay?" It was a kid with curly black hair and brown eyes. He was pretty scrawny. He was the goal keeper for the other team. Anna was pretty sure his name was Owen.

Anna responded with heavy breathing.

"HEY!" He called out. "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ANNA!"

The class all looked at Anna now.

Thanks Owen.

Kara ran up to Anna.

"Ew, get away from her!" She said as she pushed Owen aside.

"Where is your inhaler?" Kara asked.

Anna barley gasped out, "… my… bag" Anna then pointed at her bag.

Kara ran to the bag and back in two minutes.

Anna took the inhaler from Anna and pressed down the canister.

Anna took the inhaler away from her mouth and looked at Kara,

"Thanks."

The coach looked at Anna and said,

"Go sit on the bench, Cavanaugh."

Anna stood up, embarrassed, and walked to the bench.

She looked at Dylan as she walked past.

He didn't even move from the goal.

Nice to know he cares.

Anna watched as the rest of the class continued to play soccer.

Anna felt her phone buzz from the inside of her pocket.

She figured it was just Zoe, checking up on everybody, but it was something much worse.

It was a text from A.

Anna thought she was done with A. She did what A told them to do and she had never gotten a text since. None of her friends mentioned anything about a second A text either.

Anna read and re-read the message several times.

 _ **You want him. Well then get rid of her.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was a picture of a Dylan and Chelsey attached to the text.

* * *

Rose stared at the clock. Five minutes until the end of sixth hour. Then, she could meet Zak for their tutoring lesson.

It was the slowest five minutes of Rose's life.

The bell rang after what felt like hours to Rose.

She ran out of school to her car.

Rose started her car and sped over to the brew.

She was ten minutes early so Rose went into the bathroom to freshen up.

She threw her hair up into a high ponytail and re-did her make up. She put on a bold amount of eyeliner to show of her blue eyes.

She then went into one of the bathroom stalls to change. She put on a dress she found her mother's closet.

It was a black dress patterned with yellow flowers that went down to her knees.

She however, did not wear the jacket that went along with it. Rose wanted her shoulder to be exposed.

When Rose exited the bathroom, Zak was already at their usual spot, with two glasses of water. They decided that they would not drink coffee when they studied. It was bad luck.

"Hey" Rose said as she walked over to Zak.

"Hello Miss. Fitzgerald." Zak responded.

"SHHH, Zak, not a lot of people know that! My dad doesn't like it!" Rose replied in a harsh whisper.

"Crap, sorry." Zak replied with a smile. "I forgot."

"It's fine, just help me with my homework. I am clueless!" Rose said anxiously.

Rose told Zak about how Fitzgerald was her actual last name last night when they were texting. Now Zak wouldn't stop teasing her about it. But Rose didn't mind, she knew he was just joking.

"Okay, what question do you need help on?" Zak asked as Rose pulled out her homework.

"Um, number one." Rose said quickly, taking a sip of water.

Zak laughed. "Number one huh, okay, give me the paper."

Rose did and of course, Zak flew right through the question. He did the same for number two, three, four, five and so on until he finished the whole homework assignment.

"Okay, I still don't know how you did that." Rose said with confusion.

"Well, why don't we discuss it over diner Friday night?" Zak asked smoothly.

Woah, did Zak just ask her out. They have only talked to each other twice, not including their texting.

Oh what the heck, the Fitzgerald women did have a thing for older men.

"Sure, I would love that." Rose said with a smile.

Zak smiled back and went through each equation with Rose, but she still didn't understand.

She was already trying to figure out what she was going to wear.

* * *

Rose was now ripping apart her mother's closet. Rose had no idea what time she would be back, her mom was a publisher, and they didn't really have set times.

She continued to look. Aria Fitz's closet consisted mostly of dressed with lips or lightning bolts. There was also a fair amount of thing with forks on them.

 _Come on mom, you don't have anything else?_ Rose thought as she continued to destroy her mom's closet.

"Rose, what the heck are you doing?"

Rose spun around. It was her dad.

"Um, looking for something to wear." Rose said. Her face was white. She didn't want her dad to know she was going on a date. He was very overprotective.

"Why, you're already wearing something… which is also your mothers. Look, is you rifling through your mom's clothes a sign that you want me to take you shopping because, I don't do that stuff!" Ezra said as he put his hands up in surrender.

"No dad, I don't want you to spend your money on me." Rose said, with a calmer voice. "I just, really like mom's style." She lied.

"Ok, I don't know how your mother feels about this, but just clean up after you're done." Ezra said as he turned to walk out of the room.

"I will, thanks dad!" Rose called out after her father was gone.

Rose gave up after five more minutes and cleaned up her mother's clothes.

Rose went back to her room to lie down on her bed.

Rose's phone buzzed.

She thought nothing of it. It was probably Anna wondering where Rose was after school. But it was something completely different.

 _ **Here is what you're going to do, Rose. You're going to take your dad's credit card, you're going to go to the mall, and spend a minimum of $350. If not, your little secret is out, Bitch.**_

 _ **-A**_

Crap.

* * *

 **AN: So that was chapter five.**

 **Just a quick note, I just now realized that in the T.V show, Aria's mom was engaged to a guy named Zach. But I don't feel like going back and changing it, because I feel like it would be very confusing, so let's just forget about the whole Zach thing, ok. Thanks.**

 **AND PLEASE, IF YOUR NAME IS CHELSEY, DO NOT TAKE OFFENCE, IT WAS THE FIRST THING THAT POPPED INTO MY HEAD!**

 **And the outfit mentioned that Rose wears to see Zak I actually got from the show. I don't remember the episode, and the link won't work, but if you type in : pretty little liars aria montgomery outfits**

 **on bing, its like, the first one. You will know by the description.**

 **Keep reviewing guys; I smile every time I see a new review!**

 **-Jessica**


	7. Close cAll

**AN: HELLO! How are you all liking the story so far? I'm in a good mood, so I'm going to give you all a chapter with a section with the perspective of all the four girls! And coming up pretty soon there is going to be a Halloween special!**

 **I'M SO EXCITED!**

 **And also, I am getting a lot of reviews and I am loving it!**

 **And I want to welcome two new followers and a new favoiter:**

 **.Haleb**

 **Thank you so much for following and favoriting!**

 **Hptfiosjourneytotheriversea thanks for following!**

 **And this chapter is going to be** _ **really**_ **long. So get comfy.**

 **I feel really bad because a lot of people are asking for one of the girls to get pregnant. I really like the idea, but this is not a pregnancy story. I'm focusing on the mystery of A more than things like that, but don't worry there will be romances. Please don't be angry though!**

 **And someone requested more of Caleb , I will have some more of Caleb and Kara in the next chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pll… Or Olive garden.**

 **P.s this whole chapter takes place on Friday.**

 **Warning: Language and sexual content.**

* * *

(Friday)

There was no way that Rose was going to take her dad's credit card.

She was _not_ that sinister. Yea, she may bash someone's car for the sake of her family, but money was on a whole other level. But she couldn't let her secret get out. Rose didn't know what to do. She didn't want her friends to find out about her bashing Jason's car, she _especially_ didnot want Zoe find out.

Rose put the thought out her mind. She thought about tonight.

She thought about her date with Zak.

Rose rummaged through her closet. She really did need some new clothes.

She dug and dug for a half hour until she found something.

It was one of Rose's favorite dresses.

It was a black dress that went down to her knees. Starting from the waist down was a pattern of red roses. Rose couldn't believe that she had forgotten about this dress. Her parents got it for her when Rose turned seventeen, which wasn't that long ago. Rose was saving the dress for a special occasion.

She figured now was a perfect time.

Rose still had three hours until her date. All day during school Rose thought about her appearance. During the end of sixth hour, Rose figured out everything, besides her dress.

Rose laid the rose patterned dress on her bed. She dug through her closet until she found her pair of black combat boots that went up her legs and ended at her just below her knee caps. Rose pulled on a black leather jacket to complete the look.

Rose then went to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

She curled her hair and threw it up into a high ponytail. Rose then did a light amount of makeup. She didn't want to go overboard on the first date.

Satisfied with her look, Rose exited the bathroom and looked at the clock.

Ten minutes until eight. That also meant ten minutes till her date.

Rose walked downstairs to get to her car.

Inside the family room, Rose heard her mom call,

"Rose, come here!"

Dang. Rose was hoping to sneak past her parents and just text them that she was at Kara's house.

Rose walked into the family room and, as usual, her parents were on the couch watching a movie. Tonight they were watching Romeo and Juliet.

Rose's parents looked at her and smiled.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to watch with us but I see that have you other ideas for tonight." Rose's mom asked, still with a smile on her face.

"I'm just going to Kara's." Rose said defenseless.

"Oh, come on," Ezra started, "you never wear dresses unless it's something special. So, come on where are you going?"

Rose didn't want to tell them, but her parents could obviously see right through her.

"I'm going to Olive Garden…. With Zak." Rose said hesitantly.

Rose had told Zak earlier in the week that Olive Garden was Rose's favorite restaurant.

"Zak! Your tutor. This late at night!" Mr. Fitz said with a loud tone.

"Rose Marie Fitz are you going on a date?!" Aria asked all giddy.

"Oh please say no." Ezra said under his breath.

"Okay yes." Rose said with her head down.

"BUT HE IS FOUR YEARS OLDER THAN YOU!" Ezra said, he was now standing.

Aria now also was standing. "Oh come on Ezra, I was your student, sit down!" Aria said, pushing her husband down on the couch.

Aria ran up to hug her daughter.

"I'm so happy for you!" Aria said, shaking Rose around.

"Mom my hair!" Rose said pushing her mom away.

"Sorry. Ooh, let me go get my camera!" Aria said, running towards the stairs.

"No!" Rose and her dad said at the same time.

Aria frowned.

"Mom, you can when I get home. I really have got to get going." Rose said, rummaging through her purse for her keys. Great she left them in her room.

"Get going. Your man is waiting for you." Ezra said, now smiling.

Well, okay then.

Rose smiled at her parents and ran up the stairs back to her room.

She had just grabbed her keys when she got a text:

 _ **Now is the perfect time Rose, get your dad's credit card now!**_

 _ **-A**_

UGH.

Rose had already established this. She wasn't going to take money from her dad.

Rose then walked down stairs and walked to her car.

* * *

Rose met Zak outside of Olive Garden.

"Wow" Was all he said.

Dang, Rose wasn't expecting that.

"Thanks, you don't look to bad yourself either." Rose said, staring Zak up and down.

He was wearing a red button up with black dress pants and shoes.

Together, they walked into Olive garden.

* * *

"I'm going to have the spicy calamari." Rose said, closing her menu.

"I'll have that too." Zak said, sending a smile at Rose.

"Okay, and what do you guys want to drink?" The waiter asked.

He was a middle aged African American chunky man, but he was really kind and didn't say, "Awe, are you too on a date?" or anything like that.

Zak looked at Rose and said,

"Coffee."

Oh no he didn't.

Rose started to crack up.

The waiter just continued to look at Zak and asked,

"How do you take it?"

"Black," Zak looked Rose in the eyes, with a slight smirk o his face and said, "and steaming hot!"

Rose didn't know if Zak was implying that Rose looked steaming hot, or he was referencing the first time they met.

Rose hoped it was both.

Rose smiled.

"And for you, miss?" The waiter asked.

"I'll just have water, thank you." Rose answered.

With that, the waiter was off.

"So, about math?" Zak said, looking serious now.

"What?" Rose asked, confused.

"When I asked you out, you were confused over math, and then I said, 'Well, why don't we discuss it over dinner Friday night?' and then you said, 'Sure, I would love that!' " Zak said.

Rose laughed. She couldn't believe he remembered there conversation.

"I don't want math to ruin this right now." Rose laughed.

… _buzz…buzz…_

Rose reached for her phone, but them remembered that she was on a date.

"Go ahead, you can look at it." Zak said as the waiter was coming back with the food and drinks.

 _ **You better have the money, Bitch.**_

 _ **-A**_

Damn it, Rose had forgotten all about it.

Rose looked up at Zak, who was eating his Calamari.

"Everything okay?"

"Uh, yea." Rose said, taking a bite of _her_ Calamari.

Rose knew what she had to do, but she was going to wait till the end of the date to do so.

* * *

Rose and Zak were all done with their food and drinks. (Thank god no coffee was spilled.)

Rose was now just waiting for an opening.

Rose must have looked anxious.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom okay, then we can leave." Zak said. Then he walked to the bathroom.

Rose stood up and started to rummage through Zak's coat pockets.

 _Please, please, please let it be here!_ Rose thought.

"Yes!" Rose said under her breath when she found it.

Zak's wallet.

Rose felt really bad about this, but she took out Zak's credit card and took a picture and sent it to A. She wrote a message along with it:

 **Here asshole.**

Then Rose put the credit card back into the wallet and stuffed it back into Zak's jacket.

Rose was just in time too, Zak was walking back to the table.

"You ready?" Zak asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Rose said smoothly.

Zak pulled out his wallet (Rose prayed he didn't notice anything different) and payed the bill.

Rose and Zak then walked the backk to their cars.

When they reached their cars, Rose turned to Zak and said,

"Thanks, I had a lot of fun." Rose said, smiling.

"I had a lot of fun too." Zak said smiling, with his breath showing in the cold October air.

Then Zak leaned in.

Was he going to kiss her?

No, Rose wouldn't let him, not after what she did.

"Stop." She said before Zak closed the gap.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No its fine, I rushed it" Zak interrupted.

"Ok, well, I'll text you okay?" Rose reminded Zak.

"Of course." Zak smiled.

God, that was awkward.

Rose then drove home, satisfied with her date. Well, except for the ending.

When Rose opened the door to her house, she was expecting her parents to rush over and ask her all these questions, but nothing came.

Rose walked to the kitchen to see her parents sitting there, looking disappointed.

It was only 10:00. She wasn't past curfew or anything.

Ezra looked at his daughter.

"We know what you did, Rose. We know what you did to Jason's car."

"WHA- what! I never-"

"ROSE!" Aria interrupted.

"We know you were looking out for us, but you didn't have to smash Jason's car and let us blame it Mike!" Aria said in anger.

"You just about ruined his marriage! Mike and Mona had only been married for a year!" Erza said, also in anger.

"I'm sorry, I was scared!" Rose said in defence!

"How did you find out?" Rose added.

"We got a call from Toby. They got an anonymous call telling them to look at the streets cameras. They told them when and where. And they saw you, Rose, they saw you destroying the car."

"I'm sorry!" Rose said, now crying.

"Just go to your room!" Ezra shouted.

Rose listened and ran to her room.

She put on pajamas and flopped onto her bed, crying.

By now, Toby probably told Alison, Jason's sister, and Alison had probably told Zoe, her daughter.

All Rose wanted to find out was:

How did A know that the credit card wasn't Ezra's?

Then, Rose got a text:

 _ **Do you really thing I'm an idiot?**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

"So can you come?" Kara asked Anna, as they walked to their cars.

School had just ended and Kara had already asked Anna if she could come over to help set up the alarm system.

"Yea, fine I'll go." Anna said, uninterested.

"Why are you so gloomy, you get to come to my house?" Kara asked.

Anna just looked at Kara with a sad look and said,

"What do you think?" Anna answered.

Kara thought and thought. Then it hit her,

"Are you still bummed about Monday? Come on, Anna, you have asthma, it's not like you could have helped it. And yea, it sucks that it happened in front of Dylan, but it happened. So please, cheer up!" Kara said to Anna.

Anna fake smiled at Kara.

"Beautiful." Kara said as she smiled at Anna.

* * *

Anna and Kara had driven to Kara's house separately.

They were now almost halfway done with the alarm system.

"Okay, what do you want the password to be?" Anna asked.

"Um." Kara thought.

What was easy to remember, but weird enough that nobody could guess.

"PANDA!" Kara shouted out.

Anna almost fell off the latter; Kara had scared her that bad.

"KARA!" Anna yelled as she re –adjusted her grip.

"Sorry," Kara said in defense, " I think that the password should be panda."

"Why panda?" Anna asked annoyed.

"Because it is easy to remember but weird enough to were nobody would guess it.

"Okay…" Anna lagged on. "Panda it is."

Kara smiled.

"Kara, can I tell you something?" Anna said when she stepped down from the latter and sat on the couch.

"Yea, you can tell me anything" Kara said, sitting down next to Anna.

"We need to figure out who A is, like right now!" Anna said.

"Well, I think the only one who is qualified enough to do that is you, Anna."

"No you're smart, you just used the world 'qualified'"

Kara smiled, and then frowned. She could tell that something was defiantly wrong with Anna.

"What's wrong, Anna? A is still texting us all, and I feel like we all got caught up in our own problems, that we forget to ask each other what is going on in their life. So, what is A making you do?" Kara asked in a gentle tone.

"Wow, you really are smart." Anna said, sniffling. Kara could tell that she was on the verge of tears. It must really suck.

Kara didn't want to tell Anna that she had not gotten an A message since the whole beer bottle incident.

"Well, A texted me Monday that I needed to get rid of Chelsey. You know who Chelsey is right?" Anna asked.

Yes, Kara knew who Chelsey was. She was tall, had amazing legs, had wavy brown hair, and bright blue eyes and she was dating Dylan.

"Yea, I know who she is." Kara answered.

"Well, apparently A noticed I liked Dylan, so he told me to 'Get rid of her.' Well, I don't know what that means exactly. I don't want them to break up, well I do, but I don't want to be the cause of it. But A is sinister, and I'm scared he is going to make me do something to her." Anna got out.

"Anna, A is not going to make you do anything. Zoe, Rose and I won't let you do anything bad okay? So don't worry about it." Kara said, hugging Anna.

"Thanks, Kara."

"Don't mention it. I love you Anna." Kara said, still hugging Anna.

Anna laughed. "I love you too"

Kara pulled away.

"Well, I got to get to my job interview at the brew."

"You're applying for a job?" Anna asked.

"Yea. You gave me one of your little secrets, so I'll give you one of mine. My family is struggling with money, and I'm going to do everything I can to help my parents."

"Good for you Kara!" Anna said happily.

"Well, you can stay here for as long as you like, but I have to get going." Kara said as she picked up her purse.

"Yea, I think I'm going to take a walk." Anna said standing up.

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow?" Kara asked.

"Yup, I'll see ya." Anna replied.

Then they separated.

* * *

Kara had arrived at the brew five minutes early. She pulled out her phone and fixed her hair and gave herself a pep-talk:

"You got this, Kara. Get this job for you parents. You _need_ this job! No matter how annoying, you're always going to walk in there with a positive attitude!"

And on that note, Kara got out of her car, slammed the door closed, and walked into the brew with a big smile on her face.

She walked up to the register to remind the clerk that she had a job interview.

"Excuse me, I have a job interview." Kara said as the tapped the clerk on the shoulder.

He turned around.

It was that nerd from gym class! The one who called to the class that Anna was having an asthma attack

Kara also pushed him aside and said "ew" to him that day.

He turned around and he eyed Kara with his brown eyes behind his glasses.

"Lovely" was all he said.

"Oh, hi…" Kara was trying to remember his name; she was trying to pretend that she was just now recognizing him. He usually had his glasses off during gym.

"Owen." He said, annoyed.

"Great, now if you will follow me to the back, I can give you your interview." Owen said, grabbing his clipboard.

Kara kept her smile, "Lead the way!"

Kara and Owen were now sitting in an office in the back of the brew.

Owen jumped straight into the questions,

"Tell me about yourself"

Kara didn't even have to think,

"Well I'm very enthusiastic, and I'm very good under pressure, which would be good with this job. You must always have people complaining that the coffee is to hot or something. You saw how well I handled Anna's asthma attack on Monday."

Kara regretted saying that. She was mean to Owen that day.

"Ok, great. What are you strengths?"

"Well I'm really good at shopping…"

Crap, that wasn't relevant.

Owen looked at Kara with annoyance.

Kara new how to save herself,

"…which is good because I am used to carrying a lot, so I have a lot of arm strength for carrying food and a lot of coffee." Kara smiled.

"Okay last but not least, Why should we hire you?" Owen said in a monotone voice.

Kara knew what she wanted to say, but it was kinda risky. She couldn't think of anything else, so she just blurted it out,

"Well, because I'm not like you. As you can see I have a huge smile on my face and it has not left my face since I walked in here. I am a very happy person who is really good with people and knows how to handle annoying ones. Having a happy person as a worker is good for the company, because it makes people feel like that the managers don't work their workers to hard, because if they did, they would be frowning, like you are right now Owen, and people would feel like, if the workers are happy and not pushed over the limit, than they will treat the customers well, and I would most certainly not seem like I hate my life, like you do right now."

Kara finished with a smile.

Owen seemed un-amused.

But then, he smiled.

Then he started to laugh.

"You got spunk, Kara. You're exactly what we need here. I'll tell me boss on how good of a worker you would be. I'll just give you this application to fill out, but I'm telling you right now, Kara, you already got the job."

"Yes, thank you!" Kara jumped up and hugged Owen.

"Owen you're the best!"

He hugged back and said, "Kara, I'm not promising, it's just a high chance."

Kara released Owen.

"I don't care," she said, "at least I _have_ a chance."

Owen smiled and handed the application form to Kara.

Kara happily took it and filled it out.

She was about to return the application and pen Owen had let her use when her phone buzzed. It was probably Anna asking on how the interview was. Nope.

 _ **Did you miss me? I'm back. You want money, Kara? Take that pen and I'll give $100.**_

 _ **-A**_

Duh, Kara was going to take the stupid pen.

Kara put the pen in her pocket and gave the application to Owen.

"Thanks again Owen." Kara said when she gave him the form.

"No problem." Owen gave Kara a smile

She returned it.

Kara drove home and received another text. She picked it up annoyed, but saw it was only from Anna:

 **How was the interview? And did you hear about Rose? Turns out it was her that trashed Zoe's uncle's car, not Rose's uncle. Zoe just texted me.**

 **-Anna**

That was a very confusing text. Kara waited till she was at a stop light to reply:

 **OMG THE INTERVIEW WAS GREAT! The guy who interviewed me was Owen from gym class, and turns out, he's really nice. He pretty much guaranteed me the job. And OMG ROSE DID THAT! Zoe must be crushed!**

 **-Kara**

Anna replied when Kara got home.

Again, her parents were both gone, but they should be home tomorrow morning, so Kara could tell them about Kara's job interview when they were both here.

Kara was walking up the stairs to her room as she read Anna's text:

 **Yea Zoe seemed pretty bummed, but I feel like Rose would only do that if she had a good reason.**

 **-Anna**

Kara was standing in her doorway when she replied to Anna:

 **Yea, me too.**

 **-Kara**

Kara plopped down on the bed. She felt something weird on her back and she sat right back up.

Lying on her bed was a one-hundred dollar bill with a note next to it.

 _ **Panda. Really?**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

Zoe hadn't been in school all week. Her family had not gotten any news on Daniel yet. Plus, Zoe had just found out about how Rose trashed her uncle's car. That was bumming Zoe out too.

Jason was at Zoe's house right now. He had come home for the weekend to visit Alison.

They all sat at the kitchen table for dinner.

"I just can't believe that Rose would do this." Jason said. "I just can't believe it."

Zoe didn't know either. Maybe Rose was just in a really bad mood that day. Zoe couldn't think of any other reason.

Zoe picked at her spaghetti. She wasn't in the eating mood. She was too upset.

Zoe stared into space while her parents, and uncle, all continued with their conversation.

Zoe was having a terrible week.

Zoe hadn't seen her friends since Saturday. Yea, they texted, but she still wanted to see their faces.

What was even worse was that Zoe still hadn't heard anything about the Daniel situation.

It has almost been a week and the anticipation was killing Zoe.

"Zoe! Zoe are you okay?" It was Jason.

"Yea, just thinking." Zoe responded, taking her first bite of spaghetti.

"What are you thinking about?" Alison asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"A few things." Zoe said.

Zoe wanted to leave. She was sick of the dinner table. No, Zoe was sick of the house. She wanted to be alone.

"Well…what is going on inside your mind?" Emily urged.

Zoe had a sudden burst of anger rush through her.

"YOU WANNA KNOW! I'M SICK OF THIS HOUSE! I WANNA LEAVE! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! I DON'T WANT TO BE SCARED TO LEAVE THE HOUSE. AND I'M SICK OF BEING SEEN AS THE GIRL WITH TWO MOMS!" Zoe shouted.

Everyone looked at Zoe with astonished faces.

"You're sick of having two moms?" Alison asked.

"You never told us this!" Emily said with a sad look.

"Look," Zoe started, "I love you guys so much, but, I want to know who my dad is."

This was very true. Zoe had been wondering who her dad was for a while. She would walk down the streets and look at every man. Anyone could be her father, anyone! She would compare her looks to the men; see if they had any similarities.

Zoe could never find the right one.

"Is this true?" Emily asked.

Zoe shook her head.

"Well, then we have to find out!" Jason said standing up.

"Wait, we can't go now!" Alison said as she stood up.

"Well why not!" Zoe said. She was already at the door.

"I still don't want you to go anywhere until we hear something from the police." Alison said, beckoning for her daughter to come sit back down.

"Mom, I can take care of myself!" Zoe said annoyed.

"Zoe, listen to Alison." Zoe's _other_ mother said.

Zoe looked down. She was so sick of them right now.

"Let her go." Jason said. "She knows the number for 911 if she really needs it."

Zoe smiled and looked at her uncle.

Zoe didn't even wait for her mothers' reply; she was already out the door.

* * *

Zoe didn't know where she was going. She just kept walking.

Zoe was passing Rose's house.

 _Should I go to talk to her?_ Zoe thought.

Zoe walked up the driveway to go talk to Rose, but stopped when she didn't see her car. That meant that Rose was not home. Zoe looked at her phone.

It was 9:00. Rose must have had something important to go to.

Zoe just kept walking.

Zoe walked for another mile when she heard his voice.

"Zoe?"

She froze.

How did he find her?

 _Just keep walking._ Zoe thought.

 _Just. Keep. Walking._

Zoe walked at a fast pace.

Not fast enough.

She felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Zoe, look at me."

Zoe turned around fast and was now face to face with Daniel.

"You told? YOU FUCKING TOLD? Daniel spat.

He now had a strong grip on Zoe's wrist.

Zoe tried to pull away.

"Get off!" Zoe struggled.

"Shut the fuck up!" Daniel said, he was now covering Zoe's mouth with his hand.

Zoe was scared out of her mind. What was he going to do? Zoe's face still hadn't healed since she last saw Daniel.

Zoe punched him with her free hand and started to run.

Zoe reached for her phone, still running. She had it in her hand, she was dialing the number:

9-1-

She didn't get to finish. Zoe was pushed to the ground and her phone flew somewhere.

"Let me go!" Zoe screamed.

Zoe and Daniel where in the middle of nowhere, nobody could hear them.

Daniel grabbed Zoe's feet and started to drag her.

He was dragging her towards the woods.

Zoe was grabbing at the ground, trying to crawl away, screaming in the process.

Now in the woods, Daniel pinned her down.

"Shut up, Zoe! Just be quite."

Daniel leaned down and started to kiss Zoe.

Zoe was kicking her feet ferociously.

Zoe tried her hardest to get away, but it was useless.

Daniel started to move his hand up Zoe's body.

Zoe started to hit Daniel with her newly freed hand and Daniel didn't respond.

His hand was now at Zoe's breast.

Zoe was screaming through Daniel's kisses.

He eventually moved his lips to her neck and his hand to her mouth.

The rest went by in a blur to Zoe.

It was over with in ten minutes.

First, Zoe's shirt was off, then her pants.

Then her underwear, then bra.

And then _it_ happened.

Then someone pushed Daniel off of Zoe.

It was someone dressed in all black.

Black shoes, hoodie, and gloves.

Daniel got up and ran as fast as he could.

Zoe couldn't move, she could just barley move her head.

She looked up at the hooded figure.

She couldn't see the face, but they had saved her.

The figure started to walk away from Zoe.

Where they not going to help her?

They ran off in the direction that Daniel had run.

Zoe hoped that they caught Daniel and that they beat the shit out of them.

Zoe lied there, naked in the cold October air and cried.

Her innocence was just taken away from her.

Zoe lay there for what seemed like hours until she fell asleep.

* * *

Zoe woke up in her bed, fully clothed. She looked the clock:

11:47 p.m

She was super confused. And sore.

Her phone buzzed.

 _ **You're welcome.**_

 _ **-A**_

* * *

Anna had just left Kara's house.

She walked into her house to see her whole family on the couch, watching a movie.

"Ow!" Anna said.

They all looked back at her.

"Nobody told me we were having a family day!" Anna said with a pouty face.

"Sorry, Anna, we all just happened to be home. We didn't mean to exclude you." Toby said, standing up.

"And because nobody likes you." Brendon added, throwing a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

"Brendon, shut up." Spencer said, also standing up to go hug her daughter.

Anna stuck her tongue out at Brendon behind her mother's back.

Brendon responded by flicking Anna off.

"I saw that!" Anna's dad said while looking through the mail.

"WHA-'' Brendon said loudly. He didn't even finish his one word; he knew he didn't have a chance.

Anna smiled.

Brendon walked up to his room.

"Now that he's gone, can we please talk about the Daniel/Zoe thing?" Anna asked.

Anna's father was on the case, but he wouldn't tell Anna anything.

Toby shook his head.

"Come on, Toby, just tell her! Or at least tell me because I'm curious too." Spencer said coaxingly.

"You guys make being a cop so hard!" Toby said throwing his head back.

Spencer and Anna high fived.

"Okay, we questioned Daniel on the topic and he admitted to seeing Zoe, but said that he never touched her, but he said he did call her some not-so-nice-stuff." Toby said.

"Yea, and?" Anna insisted.

"We asked him about the bruise on her and he said 'I never punched her in the face!' when we never mentioned him hitting her face. We caught him slipping, so he has to do social services for a month." Anna's dad finished.

"That's it!" Anna exclaimed. That was ridiculous.

"It wasn't anything major so he only gets a small punishment." Toby said. Anna could tell that Toby thought Daniel's punishment was ridiculous too.

"He hit a minor!'' Anna screamed.

Zoe was seventeen, while Daniel was eighteen.

"Don't yell at me, Anna, I'm just a cop I didn't decide the decision." Toby said, throwing his hands up

Anna took a deep breath in and out.

She was calm now.

"I guess Kara, Rose and I will never have to leave Zoe alone again." Anna said.

"Good girl." Spencer said to her daughter.

Anna was still mad, but she wanted to get the idea of Zoe getting even more hurt out of her head.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Anna said, grabbing her phone.

"Okay, just don't work yourself to hard." Spencer said, reminding Anna about her asthma.

"I won't." Anna said grabbing her bag.

Anna wasn't expecting to be out for long, but she packed her phone, her inhaler, water, and a portable charger for her cell phone.

"Bye!" Anna screamed as she walked out the door.

"Bye!" Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh said in union.

Then Anna was gone.

* * *

Anna was debating on if she should go through the woods, or the park.

She looked to her right to see the park off in the distance. Anna couldn't tell in there were people there or not.

The woods would be beautiful because of the orange and brown leaves of fall, but the park had a flower garden and a nice little river.

Anna then looked to her left to look at the woods.

The trees were beautiful, and there was a nature trail so she wouldn't get lost.

Anna kept eyeing the woods. She decided she was going to walk through there.

Anna took one step forwards when her attention was drawn to a strange figure.

A person, dressed in all black. They had a black mask on or something because Anna couldn't see their face, even in the daylight.

But Anna could feel the figures eyes staring at her.

Anna just stared back. Neither of them moved. Nobody was around so Anna yelled, "What do you want?"

Anna saw the figure pull out their phone.

Then Anna's phone beeped.

Anna quickly looked down at her phone to look at the text:

 _ **I'm just trying to give you a glimpse of your future.**_

 _ **-A**_

And then A pulled something out from behind them.

It flashed in the sunlight.

It only took Anna a second before she realized what it was.

A knife.

Then A started to run towards Anna.

Anna did the only sensible thing, she ran towards the park.

She hoped that there would be people there.

Anna was running as fast as she could, she was almost there when she saw one person sitting on a bench, and she couldn't quite make out whom though.

Anna stopped to take a breath, she was started to wheeze.

She looked behind her to see A only twenty feet away, still running at Anna with the knife.

She started to run again, scared out of her mind.

The person looked up from their work, but Anna had black spots circling her eyes. She still couldn't see who it was.

Anna screamed, "HELP, HELP ME!"

That was all her body could manage.

Anna collapsed to the ground, ten feet away from the only other person in the park besides her and A.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

Anna recognized the voice. It was Dylan.

Anna tried to warn Dylan that there was someone trying to stab the crap out of her and to run away, but Anna couldn't get the words out.

Anna's chest tightened up, her heart was beating, and she was breathing fast.

Anna was having an asthma attack.

Dylan finally saw what was going on.

"Oh my god, Anna. This must be a asthma attack! Oh my god!"

He dropped down to his knees and held onto Anna.

"Crap what do I do?" Dylan asked.

Anna wouldn't waste her breath. She needed all of the oxygen in her body right now.

Anna pointed to her bag that was a few feet away.

It must've fallen off Anna's back when she fell down.

Dylan grabbed it and opened it.

"Oh, the inhaler!" He said as he grabbed it.

He handed it to Anna, who was still wheezing.

Anna pushed the canister down for the second time this week.

Anna started to take deep breaths.

"You okay?" Dylan asked. He was crouched down next to Anna, holding onto her shoulder.

Anna waited for her heart rate to slow down before she spoke,

"Yea thanks." She smiled.

"If you don't mind me asking, Anna, why were you sprinting screaming for help?" Dylan asked, confused.

Anna then remembered how A was chasing her.

"Oh my god, Dylan, we have to go, they have a knife, is your car near here? Anna said all in one sentence while she quickly stood up.

"A knife, what are you talking about? There is nobody over here." Dylan said standing up with Anna. He looked at her like she was crazy.

And she could understand why.

Anna quickly turned around. A was gone.

Then she remembered his text. "I'm just trying to give you a glimpse of your future."

A must have been trying to get Anna over to Dylan.

Bastard.

"Okay, well there was someone." Anna said, putting her hair up into a ponytail.

"Okay…" Dylan avoided eye contact with Anna.

Great, now Dylan believed that Anna was crazy.

Dylan interrupted her thought, "I think you should get home. My car is right over there." He pointed to his car in the empty parking lot.

"You're willing to drive me home?" Anna asked.

"Well, yeah, you just said someone was chasing you with a knife, I'm not going to let you walk home."

Anna smiled and walked with Dylan to his car.

* * *

The car ride with Dylan was quite. Anna told Dylan what her address was and since then, it's been completely quite.

Dylan pulled into Anna's driveway.

"Hey, thanks again." Anna said.

"No problem, just next time, if you see someone chasing you with a knife, call me so I can hold your inhaler while you sprint." Dylan said, handing Anna a piece of paper.

Anna gladly took it.

It was Dylan's number.

Anna smiled and said, "I will, thanks."

Then Dylan drove away.

Anna didn't understand.

Where him and Chelsey having problems?

Oh, well it didn't matter.

Anna walked in the door and screamed,

"I'm home!"

Anna just now looked at the clock,

8:12 p.m

Her parents were probably in their room.

Anna went to go say hi to them.

She passed by Brendon's bedroom door when he quickly opened, the door, which startled Anna, and asked, "What'cha got there?" He pointed at Anna's hand.

"Nothing." Anna responded, putting the paper into her pocket.

"Well now I'm curious." Anna heard a deep male voice say.

Anna turned around to see her parents behind her.

They all gave Anna the look.

Anna cracked under all the pressure.

"Ok fine its someone's number."

"A boy's number?" Brendon asked, a little shocked.

"Don't be so surprised, I have the ability to get numbers from boys, Brendon." Anna said annoyed.

"As long as this boy doesn't mess your grades, I'm fine with it."

"Spencer!" Toby said with a laugh.

"What!"

Anna's face was red.

"He won't." Anna said as she turned to walk to her room.

"Oh, and by the way mom," Anna turned around, "that B- in English is now an A…"

Anna turned to her brother, "… plus."

Brendon's face turned red as he said,

"Whatever." And he slammed his door closed.

"Good job, hun. I'm proud of you." Spencer said hugging her daughter.

"Okay, I'm tired so I'm just going to lie down for a bit." Anna said turning back around towards her room.

"Ok, love you goodnight," Anna's parents said.

Anna entered her room, threw on a T-shirt and sweat pants and flopped onto bed.

She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

 **AN: God this took forever!**

 **I tried to put something major for each of the girls in this chapter.**

 **And I hope the Zoe thing wasn't too graphic for you guys.**

 **And I give credit to AriaEzraDaisy for the idea of the character: Owen.**

 **She wanted someone nerdy for Kara and I loved the idea so thanks!**

 **I am also trying to get a love interest for every one of the girls, but you haven't met Zoe's yet.**

 **I still don't know if I want them to be male or female. :/**

 **You guys can help me decide.**

 **And next chapter is going to be a Halloween special!**

 **And also, today is Troian Bellisario's birthday! (She plays Spencer on the TV show)**

 **Happy 30th birthday Trioian!**

 **Here is a hint on the next chapter: One girl will end up spilling blood because of a physical attack from A!  
Keep reviewing (unless it is about someone being pregnant) xD**

 **I love you guys!**

 **-Jessica**


	8. Corn mAze

**AN: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you all aren't mad at me for not posting till Saturday. I just realized that I post** _ **way**_ **too much! I focus on this story way more than my grades and I am doing kinda bad in school right now, so I'm going to focus more on that. So my plan is to update this story once or twice a week!**

 **And I want to welcome a new favoriter:**

 **Mdroll**

 **And we also have a new follower and favoriter:**

 **Kfbowman2000**

 **Thank you!**

 **Enjoy my Halloween special!**

 **Warning: There is some self-harm in this chapter and a few curse words.**

 **Just thought I would let you know.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PLL or Dave and Busters**

* * *

Zoe did not want to get up the next morning.

She was still freaking out about last night. She also couldn't remember that much about it.

All Zoe knows is the important stuff. She is trying to forget about everything else.

1\. Daniel had raped Zoe.

2\. A had saved Zoe and hopefully, beat the crap out of Daniel

But Zoe still didn't know who had brought her home.

Who knows, maybe it was A. Hopefully it was.

Zoe didn't want anyone to find out, especially not the police.

They would bring Zoe into court; make her answer all these questions that Zoe didn't want to answer.

But then again, Daniel could get to Zoe easily, if he was behind bars, he wouldn't be able to reach her for a _long_ time.

Zoe forced herself to get up out of bed; she had to meet her friends at the brew at 1:00 p.m.

Zoe put on a red long sleeved cardigan, skinny jeans, brown boots and a brown beanie to cover up her blonde hair.

Zoe also put on a grey scarf. Without it she felt exposed.

Zoe looked at herself in the mirror. She looked dead. She felt dead.

Zoe was a zombie.

Her brown eyes looked lifeless.

Her hair was flat and full of tangles.

Zoe's posture was terrible.

She slouched.

It hurt to put pressure on her legs, so Zoe walked with a slight limp.

And worst of all, Zoe's body was cold and numb.

There was no spark left in Zoe's body.

She felt like a corpse, lifeless, dead, an empty shell with nothing in it.

Let's just say it. Zoe was depressed.

Zoe continued to look at herself in the bathroom mirror.

 _I hate myself,_ she thought.

Zoe's life **sucked.**

She was bullied for having two moms, her and her friends were being tortured by A, Zoe had been raped, and Zoe's so-called-friend had destroyed Zoe's uncle's car and never told her about it.

Zoe opened up the drawer to her left.

Zoe never understood why people cut themselves; she didn't think there was anything out there that could destroy a person so much, to where physical pain was the only option.

But Zoe had the last bit of sunshine plucked away from her. Zoe was done with her torture.

Her mind was racing, it wouldn't stop replaying what had happened in the woods and Zoe was sick and tired of seeing it over and _over_ again.

It had only been eleven hours since Zoe had turned Zombie, but Zoe was done.

Zoe looked in the drawer. There was Zoe's razor that she used to shave her legs.

Zoe took it out and looked at, then looked at herself in the mirror.

No, she looked at her dead self in the mirror.

She washed the razor with the water from the sink and Zoe then lifted up her left sleeve and pressed the razor down into her skin.

Zoe almost screamed in pain.

It _hurt._

Zoe dropped the razor and grabbed her wrist.

She looked at herself in the mirror; Zoe looked almost alive again for a second.

The pain made Zoe forget about her fucked up life for a second and Zoe had almost become a person again.

She wanted to feel alive again.

Zoe picked up the razor and held it in her left hand.

She pulled up her right sleeve and pressed the razor down for the second time.

Zoe bit down on her scarf to stop herself from screaming.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Alive.

Zoe looked alive.

Zoe grabbed some toilet paper and started to dab at her cuts.

Blood just kept coming so Zoe grabbed two Band-Aids for her wrists.

Zoe pulled her sleeves back down and looked at herself.

She was gone again.

Zoe cleaned the razor off and put it back in the drawer.

She exited the bathroom and walked downstairs to see her parents.

"Happy Halloween!" Alison and Emily both said with smiles.

Zoe didn't want them to suspect anything, so she smiled and said,

"Happy Halloween!"

"I'm going to go down to the brew now, okay?" Zoe said, grabbing her keys.

"Okay, just be safe." Emily said.

"Yea, and we love you." Alison added.

"I will, love you guys." Zoe said as she started to walk to her car.

She passed a mirror on her way out.

Again Zoe looked at herself.

Zoe looked at her blonde hair.

Her father must have had blonde hair, because Zoe came out of Emily, who has brown hair.

Zoe was still wondering who her dad was.

Zoe's phone beeped from her pocket.

She grabbed it and read the text:

 _ **I know who your dad is, and you know him too. I can tell you if you admit to your friends about the woods last night. And don't forget to mention my heroics.**_

 _ **-A**_

No, Zoe could wait another month or so until she figured out until her dad was.

Zoe was raped last night; she wasn't going to spill what was left of her soul to her friends.

One thing stuck out about the text.

"… and you know him too."

Zoe has seen her dad before, she has spoken to him.

Does he know that Zoe is his daughter?

Hopefully not, because Zoe would feel even more upset if her dad just didn't feel like mentioning he was Zoe's father the last time they spoke.

Zoe looked at the clock:

12:53

She really had to get down to the brew. Hopefully she could make it through without breaking down.

Hopefully Zoe could make it through high school.

* * *

Rose sat in her seat in the brew. She was anxious for Zoe to get here.

Rose really needed to explain.

She had already explained her actions to Kara and Anna, but she hasn't seen Zoe since last Saturday. Everyone was at the brew.

Except Zoe.

Finally Zoe walked in. She walked to where the three girls were and sat down without saying a word.

"It's so nice to see you Zoe, how have you been?"

Zoe still hadn't made eye contact.

She looked at the floor and said, "Fine."

It's obvious that she wasn't.

"Zoe, what's wrong? Rose asked.

Rose didn't care if her friend was ignoring her; Rose loved Zoe and was generally concerned.

Zoe didn't say anything; she still hasn't moved her body much.

She had her head down while her arms were crossed. Zoe's legs were closed tightly. It was clear that she was uncomfortable.

Anna and Kara looked at Rose. They sent an obvious message to Rose saying that she needed to explain to Zoe why she destroyed Jason's car.

"Zoe, I know your mad at me-" Rose started. Rose was quickly cut off by Zoe,

"Rose, please don't. I don't want to hear it. I just can't right now."

Rose was taken aback. Zoe has never said anything nasty in her life. Zoe used to be this perfect little flower in full bloom, but something had crushed her.

Anna must have seen this. She sat straight up and said,

"Zoe, we get that you're going through issues. Yea, Daniel hit you, and that breaks my heart, but we all are going through hell right now, and the only way we can survive this is by having each other. Also, if you haven't noticed, Jason is kind of my uncle too. He and my mom are half-brother and sister. I know that you and Jason have stronger connection because he is closer to Alison, but you need to get over it. Am I hurt? No. So if you could please grow up and listen to Rose, we could get back to the big problem of A."

Wow. Anna basically just said what Rose was thinking.

Rose had forgotten that Spencer Cavanaugh and Jason DiLaurentis were related.

Hopefully the message got through to Zoe.

Zoe finally looked up.

She had bags under her eyes and her body was as stiff as a statue.

What happened to her?

Zoe looked at Rose and said in a monotone voice,

"What?"

Rose took a deep breath in and said,

"Look, I love you, Zoe. We all do, but I have a reason for destroying Jason's car. Back when Jason and my mom were teenagers, he was a threat to my parent's relationship. Because of him my parents went through some deep struggles. I know that it was as much of my mom's fault as it was Jason's, but when he came back a few years ago, I got nervous. He wanted to meet with my mom in private, but I found out. I destroyed his car because I figured that if I got rid of the ride, that they wouldn't meet. And I know that there is no excuse for vandalism, but I was high on fear and I just did it okay? Please forgive me. I'm worried about you and I want to be there for you."

Rose finished strong.

Zoe stared at Rose, emotionless.

"Jason, my uncle, was a threat to your parents! Jason can't be compared to your dad at all Rose!" Zoe finally said.

Zoe's two simple sentences finally broke the tension.

Everyone started to laugh.

Zoe cracked a small smile.

"Ew, Zoe, that's my dad" Rose said making a disgusted face.

Oh, Rose didn't care. She was back on Zoe's good side.

Rose stood up and leaped over to Zoe, hugging her.

Rose felt Zoe's body tense. Rose immediately released herself from Zoe.

"You okay?" Rose asked, confused.

"Oh nothing," Zoe said, pulling her sleeves over her hands, "you just startled me."

"Happy Halloween, then!" Rose said, sitting back down.

Everyone laughed now.

"Oh, god I don't think we have laughed this much since before A." Kara said, holding her stomach.

The girl's laughter died out.

"I hate to ruin this but…" Anna began, quickly being interrupted by Kara,

"NO, PLEASE DON'T!"

Anna looked at Zoe and said, "I have information on Daniel."

At the sound of his name, Zoe's loose, relaxed body suddenly tightened at the sound of her attackers name.

Rose felt like she had been stabbed. Seeing her friend in pain made Rose feel like there was a hand ripping through her chest, its fingers ripping out every bit of flesh to get to the heart rapped in its boned cage. The hand tore and ripped and destroyed the bone. When the hand reached Rose's heart, it pulled out the object behind it back. It pulled out a knife of sadness and thrusted it at Rose's heart. Now her body was overtaken with sadness. All because of Zoe being hurt.

The terror on her face from Daniel harassing her made Rose want to beat the shit out of Daniel. If he walked in the brew's door right now, Rose would rip that knife of sadness out of her heart and stick it into his.

Rose snapped back to reality.

Anna continued, "You know that my dad is taking care of the case right?"

Zoe nodded, "Yea, him and Victoria came to my house to question me."

Anna face turned sad as she spilled the truth.

"Since there is no evidence of him hitting you, he only gets a month of community service."

"WHAT!" Kara stood up while she screamed this.

"THAT ASSHOLE BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!"

The brew went silent. Everyone looked at the girls.

Anna stood up and addressed to all the guests,

"Sorry, we are rehearsing for our school musical, Kara just really gets into her role."

Everyone just turned back to their coffee and food.

"Kara, you have to control yourself." Anna said, sitting back down.

Kara grabbed her croissant that she ordered and took three huge bites.

"Kara, slow down!" Rose said snatching the croissant.

"Sorry," Kara said, taking the pastry back from Rose, "I get hungry when I'm nervous."

"Yea and loud too." Anna said under her breath.

Rose looked back at Zoe.

She wasn't crying, but you could see the hurt in her face.

"Zoe, don't worry, we won't leave your side after the month is up okay?" Rose said, grabbing Zoe's hand.

Zoe took a deep breath and nodded her head, signaling her agreement.

"Yea, my dad picked him up this morning to start his punishment." Anna added, getting up to join Rose at comforting Zoe.

"Well I don't have any news but I feel bad so, make some room for me!" Said Kara as she stood up and walked over to the two other girls.

The girls all sat there, with their arms around Zoe.

After a few minutes Zoe peeped up four words that made Rose so happy.

"I love you guys."

Rose smiled.

"OH!'' Kara shouted while she stood up. Her outburst caused everyone to jump.

"Oh my god, Kara, what the heck!" Anna said, covering her ears. Poor Anna was sitting in front of Kara, so Anna got the full blow of Kara's outburst.

"I have to pick up my apron. I got the job!" Kara said, smiling at her last sentence.

"OH MY GOD!"

"Good job!"

"Congratulations!" Anna, Rose, and Zoe all said at once.

Kara walked over to some nerdy kid who was at the register and received an apron. After saying thanks to the register worker, Kara walked back and said,

"I have to get going. Both my parents are home and I want to tell them about my job. Are we still on for the haunted corn maze tonight?"

Rose almost forgot that they had all made plans.

"Yea, meet you guys at the maze at eight?" Anna asked.

She was in charge of the time.

"Yea I'll be there." Rose said

"Me too." Zoe peeped.

"Okay good, see you guys tonight!" Kara said. Then Kara was out the door to her car.

After a few more minutes of talking, all the girl stood up to leave when all of their phones buzzed.

 _ **See you there, Bitches.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose's phone beeped again, but this time it was Kara.

 **Did you guys just get a text from A that said, "See you there Bitches."?**

 **-Kara**

Rose quickly replied:

 **Yea.**

 **-Rose**

"Ughhhh I really wanted to go to that maze!" Rose said stomping her feet.

"Well then we'll go. I don't think that A will do anything to hurt us." Zoe said, looking at both the girls.

Anna looked at Zoe in shock, "First of all, you're crazy, and second of all, I'm only going to agree with you because I really want to go."

Zoe grinned as Rose texted Kara for the second time:

 **We are still going; we are not going to let this monster ruin our social lives.**

 **-Rose**

It wasn't even five seconds until Kara replied:

 **Preach.**

 **-Kara**

The girls then all went their separate ways and when Rose got home, the first thing she did was look up karate moves on YouTube.

* * *

Kara walked into her front door and started to search for her parents.

Kara walked through her kitchen and into her family room.

Lying on the couch was both of Kara's parents both asleep; Hanna had her head resting on Caleb's chest, while his arm was wrapped around his wife.

Kara smiled at her parents. She rarely ever saw them together in the same room. Kara didn't want to ruin their sleep, so she let them be.

Kara walked over to her alarm system. She figured that she should change the password since A knew it, and they were the main person that Kara wanted to keep out.

Kara thought of a new possible password. She looked around the room and thought.

Kara's eyes stopped on her parents.

Then it hit her.

She knew the perfect password.

Kara hit the "reset" button on the padlock and entered her old password:

 **P-A-N-D-A**

Then Kara typed in her new password:

 **H-A-L-E-B**

Kara's parents were still asleep and Kara was looking for something to do to kill the time.

Kara looked at her apron that she got from the brew.

She had the perfect idea.

* * *

After an hour of hard work, Kara was done.

Now stitched into Kara's red apron was her name on the top left.

Her name was in a yellow, cursive pattern.

Satisfied with her work, Kara put on her apron and looked in the mirror.

It made her look fat.

It didn't matter. Kara would wear anything, as long as she could get some money for her parents.

Kara opened her bathroom door and walked downstairs with her apron on.

Her parents were now both awake, sharing a tub of ice cream.

"Hey, hun." Caleb asked, sticking a spoon of ice cream into his mouth.

"Hey guys." Kara said. She walked closer to her parents to see if they would get the hint that Kara had got a job.

"OH! Happy Halloween!" Kara's mother said abruptly.

"Happy Halloween." Kara said, still trying to send hints to her parents.

Kara was now standing right in front of her parents.

They still didn't notice.

Kara grabbed a spoon and started to eat from the tub of ice cream that her parents were sharing.

Kara caught them holding hands. She never really saw her parents do anything lovey like that. Maybe it was because of the fact that they were so caught up in money, and that they were trying to keep their secret from Kara, that they didn't have time for romance.

They obviously didn't now.

Kara stood there as she watched her dad grab Hanna's waist and pull her towards him. Mrs. Rivers gasped and when she opened her mouth, Caleb shoved a big spoonful of ice cream into his wife's mouth.

"Caleb!" Hanna shouted "That's cold!"

"Sorry, not sorry." Caleb said, kissing his wife.

Hanna gladly returned his kiss.

Kara just stood there, watching her parents eat each other's faces.

Kara didn't know what to do. She stood there with her mouth hanging open, and the piece of ice cream in Kara's mouth fell out.

"Ah, crap!" Kara complained, looking down at her cookie dough ice cream stained apron.

Hanna and Caleb looked at Kara in surprise.

"What happened?" Hana asked.

"Kara what are you wearing?" Caleb said, pointing at Kara's apron.

"Oh, so now you notice!" Kara said, trying to rub the stain from the apron.

"Kara, did you get a job?" Hanna asked, grabbing her daughter's shoulders.

"Yes, I got one at the brew." Kara said, smiling slightly. She was proud of herself.

"AHH! YEA YOU DID IT!" Hanna screamed, picking her daughter up and spinning her around.

"Okay, I'm confused, I'm excited for you, but why did you get a job? You hate working for other people, Kara?" Caleb asked.

Oh, how he knew her so well.

"Did mom not tell you?" Kara asked, staring at her mother

"Kara, this is the first time your father and I have been at the same place at the same time since we busted you for drinking." Kara's mother said, raising her eyebrows.

Oh, right.

"Well, father," Kara said, staring at her dad, "I found out about how we are poor and the bank wants to take our house and what-not, so I got a job!" Kara said, throwing her hands up.

"You can hug me now." She added.

Caleb grabbed his daughter and hugged her tightly,

"You're the best daughter a guy can have. I also can't believe that you called me 'father.'"

"I like it; I might call you that more often." Kara said sarcastically.

"Shall we celebrate?" Hanna asked, cutting in on Kara and Caleb's little moment.

"Okay, but I'm paying." Kara said, looking sternly at her parents.

"You have money?" Caleb asked.

Kara remembered the hundred dollars she had gotten from A.

"Yea, I have some left over from my birthday." Kara answered, grabbing her purse.

"Ok, well where are we going?" Hanna asked.

"Anywhere you guys want to go."

Kara's parents looked at each other.

"Dave and busters!" They said in union

Kara laughed at how childish her parents were, and then they all walked to the car.

* * *

"Gah I hate this thing!" Kara said, hitting the _Big Bass Wheel._

She was not even an inch away from the jackpot and Kara ended up getting only two tickets.

Kara gave up on the game and went to go sit back at her table.

Her parents were off somewhere. Probably playing Ski ball.

Kara took a sip of her drink and had a bite of a cold fry.

The Rivers family had already gotten and eaten there food, they had all ordered cheap stuff, and now they were all dispersed playing arcade games.

Kara stared at nothing unparticular when she felt eyes on her back.

She turned around to see a lot of people, but nobody staring at her.

Kara turned back around, but the feeling was still there.

She felt un-comfortable so she stood up to over to the crane games.

Kara looked at the crane to see if there was anything in there that she wanted.

Kara's eyes stopped on a pink dinosaur. She didn't know what kind it was.

Kara swiped her card and tried to get it.

Kara aligned the crane with the dinosaur and hit the button.

"Please, please, please…" Kara pleaded as the crane went down.

It missed the stuffed animal by a few inches.

Kara grunted and tried again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Kara swiped her card again, but the game wouldn't start.

She looked down to see that she had run out of game chips on her card.

"Oh, come on."

Kara's day of celebrating was going downhill.

Kara put the card in her pocket and was about to go find her parents when she felt that feeling again. The feeling that someone is watching you.

Kara didn't turn around this time. He stared through the mirror that was inside of the crane to see behind her.

She couldn't make out the face, they had on a mask, but she could see the lone figure, standing in the middle of a bunch of moving people.

Kara stood there. Nobody would try to hurt her in such a crowded place.

She thought of her options.

find her parents.

the Bastard.

in the other direction.

Kara decided on confronting him, since she figured she had to learn to be tough now.

She turned around but a scream quickly escaped Kara's mouth.

"BOO!" He yelled.

Kara screamed from the unexpected scare and slapped the guy.

"Ouch, Kara what the heck."

Kara recognized the voice,

"Owen?"

"Yea, it's me." Owen removed the mask.

"Did you come here with a mask just to scare people? Because if you did, you're sick." Kara said, trying to slow her heartrate.

"No, no I didn't. I'm here because of Halloween and my dad and I wanted to celebrate. I went to the prize area and saw this mask so I got it. When I walked out I saw you sitting alone at your table, so I put on the mask to scare you, but then I lost you. I found you a minuet ago over here and took my chance." Owen said, putting the mask in his bag and pulling out his game card.

"What animal are you trying to get. I noticed you were over here for a while." Owen said, swiping his card.

"No, Owen, you don't have-'' Kara started to say, but was interrupted.

"No, I'm getting you something, I almost gave you a heart attack so what do you want, Kara."

She gave in,

"The pink dinosaur."

Owen laughed and brought the crane over to the plush toy.

"You're not going to get it. I tried five times and I didn't even get close."

Kara said crossing her arms.

The claw rapped around the dinosaur and lifted it up. It then dropped into the prize collector.

"No way." Kara said in disbelief.

Owen reached down to retrieve the dinosaur.

"Yes, way." Owen said, handing the toy to Kara.

Kara took the animal in disbelief.

"How?"

"It's like math. You find the right angle and-" Kara cut Owen off,

"Stop, you're just going to confuse me more."

Owen laughed.

"You here with your parents?" He asked.

"Yea, their here somewhere." Kara said, holding the dinosaur under her arm.

"Found you." A deep voice said.

Kara jumped for the second time today and turned around to see her parents standing right behind her.

"Oh, hi, I was about to start looking for you." Kara said, holding her heart.

"Nice try, Kara. Who is this?" Hanna asked.

Kara turned around to look at Owen.

Owen stepped over to shake the Rivers' hands and said,

"Hi, I'm Owen Gottesman, I'm the one who gave Kara a job, and I also won her that dinosaur she is holding."

Owen said that very smoothly.

"Wait, did you say your last name is Gottesman?" Hanna asked, almost laughing.

Caleb was on the verge of laughing to.

"Yes?" Owen answered, clearly confused.

Caleb controlled his laughter and asked,

"Is your dad's name Lucas?"

"Correct." Owen said, looking at Kara.

Kara had no idea what was going on either, she actually was kinda embarrassed of her parents.

Her parents didn't hide it anymore, they were full out laughing now.

"Oh my god." Kara said under her breath.

She looked at Owen.

"I'm sorry I have no idea what's wrong with them."

Just then a tall, taller than Kara's father, muscular man with slight facial hair walked up to the group.

"What's so funny Owen?" The man had a deep voice.

"Just meeting my friend's parents, dad." Owen said to the man.

Hanna and Caleb immediately stopped laughing.

"Lucas?" Hanna asked. Her face was red.

"Hi, Hanna." Lucas responded with a smile.

"Okay…. It was nice seeing you Owen. Again, thanks for the job." Kara said, trying to end the conversation.

Kara looked at Owen's dad,

"It was nice to meet you too Mr. Gottesman, my name's Kara, and you should know that you have a great son. I hate to cut this short, by my parents and I really need to get going." Kara said.

She grabbed her parent's hands and ran over to their table.

Kara dropped the $100 dollar bill on their table, she didn't even bother to et her change, and then they all headed towards the door.

Kara felt terrible.

Kara's parents had basically made fun of Owen's dad and Kara ran off without even saying bye.

The Rivers were all in the car and they drove home in silence.

"I can't believe you guys." Kara said walking into the house.

"Sorry, we knew Lucas when we were your age." Hanna said.

"Obviously." Kara said, annoyed.

She walked up the stairs to her room and Kara began to get ready for the haunted corn maze tonight.

* * *

Anna looked at herself in the mirror. She was dresses as a witch.

She had on a black dress with a purple lining. Anna had on orange and black tights and black pointed shoes. She also had a headband with a witch hat attached to the top left.

She did a little twirl to see herself and she was satisfied with her look.

Anna and her friends were going to meet at the corn maze in a half hour, so Anna had some time to kill.

She didn't want to spend a lot of money at the maze, so Anna started to cook some pumpkin shaped macaroni and cheese.

Brendon was out trick or treating with his friends and Anna's dad was out doing his cop thing. Halloween is a strange night so he had to keep his eyes peeled to point out any trouble makers.

It was just Anna and her mom at the house right now.

… _Ding Dong…._

Another trick or treater.

Spencer was in the bathroom so Anna had to answer the door this time.

Outside was two young teenage girls. Probably thirteen or fourteen.

They were dressed as a bumblebee and a ladybug.

"Trick or treat!" They said, shoving their bags at Anna.

Anna held out her bowl and let the kids have a handful each.

"Thank you!" The girls yelled as they walked away.

"YOU'RE WELCOME!" Anna screamed back, closing the door.

Anna went back to her macaroni and cheese. She just poured in the cheese when the doorbell rang again.

God, Anna was sick of this already, where was her mom?

She opened the door but nobody was there.

Wait. Somebody was there. Anna could see them in Anna's driveway.

They were wearing all black.

Anna was about to slam the door closed when she was frightened with a high pitched voice yelling,

"BOO!"

Anna jumped and looked down to see a five year old boy dressed as a pumpkin.

"Oh, hi!" Anna said, focusing on the boy.

"Trick or treat!" He said, holding up the bag.

Anna put a big handful of candy into his bag.

"Thanks!" He said, walking over to the black hooded figure.

Anna ran outside and grabbed the boy.

She wasn't going to let him go over there and get stabbed with a knife.

The boy screamed. He probably thought he was being kidnapped.

Then the black figure pulled of their hood and Anna could now see it was just a concerned mother wearing the hoodie to protect herself from the cold.

Crap, she probably thought her son was being kidnapped too.

Anna played it off by yelling,

"Boo!"

She yelled this with a smile.

She looked at the mother who was making her way up the porch and Anna looked at the boy and said,

"Payback."

Anna released him and he ran over to his mother.

As they were walking off, Anna heard him say to his mother,

"She's funny, can we go back to this house later."

Good. Anna played it off.

Spencer finally got out of the bathroom and gave Anna a quick,

"Thank you."

Anna looked at her pumpkin shaped Mack and cheese.

She dumped it into the sink. She wasn't in the mood for it anymore.

"Okay mom I'm going to head out now." Anna said, grabbing her keys.

"Okay, be safe." Spencer said as the doorbell rang again.

Anna walked to her car and when she got in, Anna got a text:

 _ **Oh, how simple it's going to be to get to you.**_

 _ **-A**_

Whatever.

Anna couldn't go back now.

Anna started her car and made her way over to the corn maze.

* * *

When Anna got there, she saw all three of her friends sitting by the fire.

Anna walked over to them and they all greeted her.

Kara was dressed as a black cat. She had on a black jacket and pants with black converse. She also had a black clip on tail, cat ears, and a black dot on her nose with whiskers. Her dirty blonde hair was also worn down. She most likely used a cheap pair of black lipstick for the nose and whiskers.

Rose was dressed as, well, a rose. She had on white converse with a green pair of jeans. Her top was a dark red with ruffles at the bottom. Her black hair was up in a high ponytail and she was wearing a headband with a rose on the top right.

Zoe was dressed as an Eskimo. She was smart and she was probably the warmest since she was covered up the most. She had on a brown dress with white fluff sewn into the hand holes. Her blonde hair was over her shoulders and was peeking out of the hood, which also was lined with the same thing. She wore black yoga pants and brown boots.

"You all ready?" Anna asked as the girls stood up.

They all replied with "yes" and "let's do this!"

They bought their tickets and waited in line for their turn in the maze.

Anna looked at the short line and saw Dylan a few spaces in front of them.

Anna was about to say hi when she noticed that Chelsey was with him.

She was dressed as a slutty bunny and he was a magician. A costume that obviously went together.

Anna was confused. She was pretty sure that Dylan and Chelsey were having problems. Dylan _had_ given Anna his number.

But Anna never texted Dylan. She was too scare and never knew what to say.

Again, Anna missed her chance.

Kara nudged Anna.

"You okay?"

Anna pointed at Dylan and Chelsey.

"Oh. Well you look way better that her, I mean look at her, she is just looking for attention." Kara said to Anna. Then Kara hugged her.

"Thanks." Anna said, hugging Kara back.

Rose and Zoe looked at Kara and Anna.

"Wait, what's going on?" Zoe asked with a confused look on her face.

Kara pointed at Dylan and Chelsey.

"Oh." Zoe said quietly.

"Don't worry about them, Anna; you look ten times better than her." Rose said, hitting Anna playfully.

"Thanks guys." Anna said smiling.

Anna looked up and saw the couple enter the maze.

It was only a matter of seconds until Anna heard Chelsey scream.

It was now Anna, Zoe, Kara, and Rose's turn to enter the corn maze.

Anna them remembered A's texts:

 _ **See you there, Bitches.**_

And

 _ **Oh, how simple it's going to be to get to you.**_

Anna thought about telling her friends, but they were then forced into the maze.

Right away somebody popped out and scared the crap out of Kara enough to make her scream.

Kara gets scared very easily.

The girls walked through the maze.

No matter what, they did not want to get separated.

Anna had to admit, the place was pretty creepy.

There was flashing light, fake dead bodies, fake blood everywhere. There was even fog coming from everywhere.

There was also the fact that there were people dressed as the creepiest thing jumping out at you every three seconds.

Right on cue, someone dressed as a deranged clown jumped right in front of Rose.

She screamed, but not as loud as Kara did.

She screamed at everything.

The girls walked another few corners.

Then Anna heard a chainsaw starting.

Then somebody jumped in front of everyone.

Everyone screamed at the person.

The chainsaw guy then started to chase the girls.

Even though the part that actually cuts you was off, somebody chasing you with a chainsaw was pretty creepy.

All the girls screamed this time.

The girls ran but the chainsaw man continued to chase the girls until they got to a separation. You could either go to the left or the right.

Anna went with her instinct and went to the right while all the other girls went to the left.

Anna was all alone, and her breathing was pretty heavy, but she took deep breaths and the feeling went away while the chainsaw guy continued to chase Zoe, Rose, and Kara.

Anna walked until she hit a dead end.

Anna could hear Kara screaming so Anna decided that she would follow Kara's voice until she caught up with them.

Anna turned around but yet another person jumped out at Anna.

Anna screamed, but not because of the jump scare.

She jumped because the person in front of her was dressed in a black hoodie.

Anna figured it was someone working in the maze, but the figure reached out grabbed Anna.

The people in the maze are not supposed to touch you.

Anna screamed because she now knew that this was A.

A pulled Anna close and put a rag up to her nose.

Anna continued to scream, but anyone that could hear her didn't think anything bad was happening, they were in a freaking haunted corn maze.

Anna's body grew tired and she stopped fighting.

Anna's eyelids began to grow tired and soon, Anna's eyes closed, and she felt A put Anna over her shoulder.

Anna didn't know where A was taking her, but she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Anna's eyes shot open. She looked around her and saw that she was no longer in the corn maze, but that she was in the woods right next to it.

Anna put her hands down on the ground to help herself get up, but when she put them on the ground, she felt the leaves stick to her hands.

She looked down and screamed. She was covered in blood.

It was warm, which meant that it was fresh.

Anna looked a few feet in front of her and saw something that made her body go numb.

A knife.

A knife as big as the one A was holding the day they chased Anna.

It was bloody.

Anna's eyes were blurry, but she saw something else close by to her.

When her eyes cleared, she screamed.

It was Chelsey.

No, it was Chelsey's body.

Her body was covered in blood.

Anna started to put the pieces together.

Bloody knife, Bloody Chelsey, Bloody Anna.

Anna was now crying.

What had A made her do!

Anna didn't know if it was Chelsey's or her own blood on her body.

Anna didn't even know if Chelsey was alive.

Anna tried to stand up but regretted her decision.

Anna's back killed.

She screamed once again, but this time in pain.

Anna collapsed to the ground and laid there. She was freaking out.

She tried to sit up, but she was too weak.

Anna tried her hardest to sit up again, but her body gave up and she passed out.

* * *

"Oh, my God, Anna! Wake up! PLEASE!"

Anna's eyes slowly opened.

Zoe was shaking Anna.

Anna started into Zoe's brown, tear stained eyes.

"Guys, she's awake!"

Rose's blue eyes and Kara's hazel eyes looked down into Anna's.

They were crying too.

Anna turned her head and she saw that she was still in the woods.

Chelsey's body was still lying next to Anna.

"Can you sit up?" Rose asked

"No." Anna grumbled.

Her back felt like it was on fire.

Rose and Kara grabbed the sides of Anna's body and helped her sit up.

The girls all gasped.

The back of Anna's dress was stained with blood.

"I'm calling the police." Zoe said, grabbing her phone.

"NO, HOW ARE WE GOING TO EXPLAIN CHELSEY'S BODY!" Anna yelled, her voice was suddenly back.

"We checked her pulse, Anna, she's alive.

Anna felt relieved. Anna or A hadn't killed her.

Zoe was off in the distance now calling the police.

She walked back and asked,

"Does Chelsey have any injures?"

Rose checked her and said, "No, I think she was drugged like Anna."

Zoe, being smart, said, "No, we think something fell on her and she passed out."

It was a few minutes until Zoe asked another question, "Does Anna?"

They looked at Anna.

"I don't know, check my back though, it kills." Anna replied.

Rose cut at Anna's dress to get to her back.

Rose gasped once again.

"What?" Kara asked concerned.

"Anna, there is a huge bloody slash going down you back. It must've been from that knife." Rose said with her hands over her mouth.

Anna felt like she was going to pass out again.

"Yes, she has a huge slash going down her back, please hurry!" Zoe said to the officer on the phone.

Then Anna heard sirens.

"There sending your dad and Victoria, Anna. And an ambulance is coming for you and Chelsey and they are calling our parents right now." Zoe said walking back over to the girls.

Anna's vision got blurry and black rings began to form around her eyes.

She passed out again.

The last thing she heard was all the girls scream her name.

* * *

Anna's consciousness went in and out.

The first time she woke up, she saw her friends waving their hands to signal the police.

The second time she woke up she saw her father's face in front of hers, lifting her up to put her on the gurney.

The third time she woke up, she was in the ambulance, her family next to her.

The fourth, she was being rolled down the hospital hallway.

The fifth, she was in a hospital bed with a bunch of tubes sticking in her arm and there was a note on the desk next to her bed.

 _ **I told you to get rid of her. You didn't listen.**_

 _ **-A**_

Then Anna fell into the black nothingness.

* * *

 **So that was chapter 7: The Halloween special.**

 **I know it wasn't really that scary, but I tried to make the ending as mysterious as I could.**

 **Remember to review!**

 **I still need a gender for Zoe's love interest.**

 **And did you suspect that Owen's dad was going to be Lucas. Lol**

 **And for all the people that reviewed, I put some Haleb in there for you.**

 **Love you guys!**

 **Have a Happy Halloween!**

 **-Jessica**


	9. The wAiting room

**AN: You guys need to review!**

 **Please, I'll take anything. I want to see what you guys are thinking? Who you guys think A is, who you think Zoe' dad is, what is going on with Rose and Zak.**

 **I am really curious!**

 **I also need some more ideas on things A can do to the girls!**

 **On a happier note,** _ **Pretty Little Bitches**_ **has three new followers and favoriters:**

 **Xaviorismy1andonly3512**

 **Tmd13**

 **Plus:**

 **GoddessArtemis1999**

 **Followed the story so thank you for that!**

 **I love you guys and please enjoy chapter eight.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PLL**

* * *

Kara sat in the waiting room, waiting for when guests are allowed to see Anna.

The doctors said that she would be fine, but she they didn't know if there would be any major injuries.

Victoria and Toby had to question the three other girls right after Anna was secure in the hospital.

Kara didn't want to lie since Toby was Anna's dad, and you could obviously see him struggling, but all the girls had decided that they would not tell _anyone_ about A.

The girls were all questioned by Toby while Victoria consulted with everyone's parents. She explained on what happened at the maze.

Toby asked some hard questions, but Zoe did most of the talking. She was really good at lying.

 **Flashback:**

* * *

Kara, Rose and Zoe all sat in an empty room at the Rosewood Community Hospital facing Toby.

Kara knew that there was another group of cops, probably including Victoria, watching from the other side of the mirror.

Toby's eyes were red. It was obvious he was crying. His daughter was just drugged and kidnapped by A and was bleeding out because of the slash that A had cut into Anna's back.

But Toby didn't know the whole story.

Toby looked at the girls and said,

"Tell me everything."

Zoe, being the bravest and the smarted of the three, answered.

"We all entered the corn maze as a group. We got separated at a cross section. Rose, Kara and I all went left while Anna went right. We figured that we would just meet her at the end of the maze. We were standing outside of the maze for ten minutes. We heard her scream, but we figured it was because she was just getting scared by the workers. But after a while, the maze got dead silent. There was nothing."

Zoe stopped to take a breath.

Toby's eyes were beginning to water again.

Kara wanted to give Zoe a break, so she continued the story,

"We searched for Anna; we figured that there must have been another exit that she exited through. We searched for hours until we heard her scream in the woods."

Rose cut in; she must have sensed that Kara was going to slip in her statement.

"Yea, we heard her scream and when we found her, Anna and Chelsey were both passed out in the woods."

Toby leaned forwards in his chair.

"Then why were Anna and Chelsey in the woods covered in blood, and why does Anna have a huge slash going across her back and why was there a knife right next to her?"

Zoe answered,

"We don't know. We just saw them both there. But Anna couldn't have hurt Chelsey. You said earlier the blood on the knife matches Anna's blood. You are going to have to ask Anna when she is well enough."

Toby nodded his head and exhaled slowly.

He looked at the girls seriously and asked the question that none of them wanted to hear,

"Now, don't lie, but, are any of you girls being threatened by somebody? Do you think somebody could have done this to Anna intentionally?"

Kara answered a little too quickly,

"No."

Kara shouldn't have done that. She should have allowed Rose or Zoe to answer for her.

"No, I mean, we all have problems with people but nobody is targeting all of us. And I can't think of anyone that Anna has a problem with. She must have done something in the maze to herself and ran into the woods to take care of it, but I could be totally wrong. You're going to have to ask Anna though."

Zoe just saved Kara's butt.

Toby, once again, exhaled.

"Okay, you guys can go."

The girls all shot straight up and ran to the hospital waiting rooms.

All of the girl's parents were waiting for them.

Kara ran straight for her parents, and wrapped herself in their arms.

Kara sobbed into her mother's chest.

She could only pray that Anna would be okay.

* * *

 **Present time:**

It had been two hours since everyone had heard news about Anna's condition.

Everyone had gone home to change, eat and clean up.

But not Kara.

Kara sit in the waiting room practically starving and still in her muddy cat costume.

The only people in the waiting room right now were Kara, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh, Brendon, Jason DiLaurentis and Victoria.

Jason must have finally realized that he had another niece other that Zoe that he cared about. Anna never talked about Jason coming to visit her.

Kara didn't want to leave the waiting room. She wasn't going to leave until she could see Anna.

Kara had told Anna about her family's money issues, and Anna had told Kara about her A threats.

Kara felt guilty of not protecting Anna. She was the only one who knew that A could have attacked Anna.

So, Kara sat in the waiting room, still wrapped in her mother's arms while tears dripped down both of the female's faces.

Kara's phone started to ring.

Owen was calling her.

Kara sat up. Should she answer?

She turned to look at her parents.

"We'll get you if we hear anything, okay? Just answer the phone." Caleb said, scooting closer to Hanna.

Kara picked up the phone and kept her voice as steady as she could,

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kara! I just wanted to let you know that your first shift at the brew starts at ten in the morning tomorrow!"

Kara looked at the clock.

10:27 P.M.

Kara had less than twelve hours to go home, sleep, take a shower, get her hair dry, get dressed, eat and drive to her job. Plus, Kara wanted to talk to Anna when she woke up.

Also, Kara didn't want to be red faced and teary eyed on her first day.

Kara started blankly into the distance.

"Kara?"

She almost dropped the phone.

Kara had forgotten that she was on the phone with Owen.

"Yea, I'm here."

"Are you okay?"

Owen sounded concerned.

Kara shook her head.

She knew Owen couldn't see her, but she didn't want to speak. If she opened her mouth everything would spill out.

"Kara where are you?"

She didn't answer.

"KARA WHATS WRONG!"

Kara took a deep breath.

"I'm at the Rosewood Community Hospital, there was an accident at the corn maze and…"

… _beep…beep…beep._

Owen had hung up.

Kara looked at her phone to see the _call ended_ notification.

She walked back over at her parents.

Hanna was asleep and Caleb was obviously about ready to pass out to.

Kara sat down and laid her head down on her dad's shoulder. Kara was tired to.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Owen." Kara answered.

"Oh, is he mad at you because your mom and I made fun of his dad?"

"No, that's not why he called. He wanted to let me know that I start at ten tomorrow."

Caleb looked down at his daughter.

"Are you ready to start tomorrow?"

"No." Kara said so quietly, she was surprised that her dad could hear her.

"Tell him that you can't start tomorrow; explain to him what's going on." Caleb said, grabbing Kara's hand.

"I tried, but when I said I was at the hospital he hung up."

"Idiot." Caleb said in an annoyed voice.

Kara felt her eyes tear up again. She blinked down hard to try to get rid of the tears, but they only fell harder.

Kara hated crying in front of her dad. She tried to act tough in front of him because Caleb always was tough in front of Kara.

Kara had never seen her dad cry before.

Her shoulders began to shake.

"Kara?"

Sobs started to escape her mouth.

Caleb got up from his seat and knelt in front of Kara.

"Kara, are you okay?"

She stopped her tears and looked at her dad in the eyes, gathering up all the courage she could.

"I know it's stupid to be freaking out so bad, but I'm so worried, dad. I know the doctors said that Anna would live, but I'm still freaking out. I'm scared that, because I didn't reply to Owen, that I lost my job, and I'm scared that something is going to go wrong with Anna and she is going to like, die or something. I'm also freaking out about this whole bank thing. I need my job to help you and mom. What if I was the one that was in the hospital bed, not Anna? You and mom wouldn't be able to pay for me being in her, and I would feel so guilty whenever the bank took our house. I'm _scared_ dad."

You know that little voice crack people get. Whenever people are trying so hard not to cry, but then a wrecking ball of sadness hits you, but you have so many walls up. The walls help the ball not break you, but the impact still shook you, and the result of the force is that little voice crack?

That happened to Kara on her last sentence.

That voice crack shook Kara hard, and her eyes started to pour again.

Kara's dad hugged her.

He hugged her tight.

When he pulled back, Kara saw tears in his eyes for the first time.

"Kara, I can't help you with Anna, but your mom and I wanted to tell you today that the bank isn't going to take our house. I got a raise. I work in a big office, with a lot of people, with a big boss, and that boss has a lot of money that goes into my pocket. I've been working there for a while and I have been saving up to pay all our taxes. We were going to take you out to eat anyways to celebrate but we didn't want to steal the spotlight away from you."

Kara smiled.

"Really! We aren't poor!"

Caleb laughed.

"No, we aren't."

Kara yelled in excitement at hugged her dad again.

"OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED!"

Hanna Rivers shot up and looked at Caleb and Kara.

Hanna noticed her husband crying.

"Kara what did you do? Why is your father crying?"

"I told her, Han." Caleb said.

"Without me!"

"She needed it she was upset about Anna."

"Okay fine."

Kara was smiling. She was happy for her parents, but at the sound of Anna's name, Kara grew sad again.

Kara looked behind her to see Anna's mom looking at Kara.

Toby had to go back to the woods to see if there was anything there to help figure out the mystery of Anna's slash.

Kara felt terrible. She was celebrating in the middle of a hospital while Spencer Cavanaugh was alone wondering if her daughter was going to be okay or not.

Kara looked back at her parents.

"You guys can go home, get some sleep. I'm going to go talk to Mrs. Cavanaugh, see if she needs anything."

Kara's parents said nothing, they only smiled, as they stood up and walked out of the hospital.

Kara walked over to Anna's mom and sat down next to her.

Spencer's eyes were red. Obviously from crying.

"You okay Mrs. Cavanaugh?" Kara asked when she sat down.

"Yea, I'm just… worried." She said, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, where's Brendon?" Kara asked.

"I made him go home, it could be another few hours until Anna wakes up and I told Brendon I would call him if we heard any news."

Kara grabbed Mrs. Cavanaugh's hand.

"Anna will be fine. She is a smartass and she is way too stubborn to let anything happen to her."

Spencer laughed.

"God, you're like your mother."

Kara smiled and squeezed the older woman's hand.

"Are you sure that nobody is threating you four girls?" Spencer asked, looking Kara in the eyes.

Kara almost slipped but she held her ground.

"No, Mrs. Cavanaugh. It was probably just a prop that cut Anna."

Spencer took a breath out.

"I'm just worried that somebody could target you all. Aria, Hanna, Emily, Alison and I were all threatened by this girl when we were about your age, Kara."

Kara couldn't believe it. Was this the same person?

Kara didn't want to barge, but she also was very curious.

"Did you ever find out who this person was?"

Spencer looked right at Kara and Mrs. Cavanaugh let it all slip,

"The game started out as one girl threating us through texts. They pretended to be Alison, long story short, Alison was missing for many years and we all thought she was dead, but she was actually hiding from our stalker. We all kinda brushed it off, but then the attacks got serious, and we eventually found the girl. Mona Vanderwaal. After she was sent to Radley, we thought the attacks would stop. But somebody else took the game. They attacked us for many more years, and they were a lot more violent than Mona. After being freaking kidnapped we figured out who it was. It was Alison's transgender sister who wanted revenge on us."

Kara sat there emotionless.

Only one thing was going through Kara's mind.

What the _hell?_

First of all, Mona is Rose's _aunt_!

This person had kidnapped Kara's mom and her friends! They probably also did a countless amount of other things.

Kara looked at Spencer. She probably had the strangest expression on her face.

Spencer's eyes grew wide.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry. Your mom probably didn't want you know. I'm sorry I just dropped a bomb on you."

Kara was still speechless. She only had one question.

"It's fine Mrs. Cavanaugh, but um...did these people go by any nicknames?"

Spencer nodded her head and answered,

"A."

Kara's heart sunk.

This was the same monster.

Or at least Kara's A has the same idea as Spencer's A.

Kara didn't know what to say.

"Wow. That is terrifying."

That was all she could muster up.

"I'm just scared that that's happening to you guys." Spencer mumbled.

"I can tell you right now, Mrs. Cavanaugh, we are _not_ going through all that trouble."

Kara was kind of telling the truth. They hadn't been kidnapped yet.

Spencer and Kara looked at each other.

Spencer lunged out and hugged Kara.

Kara jumped, frightened from Spencer's outburst.

"Thanks, Kara, for being here for Anna….and also for not freaking out."

Kara smiled and hugged Spencer back.

"No problem."

Kara and Spencer had just broken apart when Kara heard someone call her name.

"Kara?"

She looked to where she heard name.

It was Owen, and he was holding a big bag.

Kara looked at Spencer.

"Go ahead," she said, "you don't have to comfort me."

Kara stood up and walked over to Owen.

Owen ran up to Kara and hugged her.

"Owen what are you doing?"

Owen pulled away and said,

"You said you were in the hospital, that there was an accident. I thought you were hurt! I hung up because I wanted to get over here as fast as I could and I wanted to get something comfy for you to wear, so I went to target and bought clothes and rushed over here."

Kara's heart just melted.

"You went and bought me clothes?" Kara asked, grabbing the bag.

"Yea, I figured you would want to be comfy." Owen replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to go change into these." Kara said, heading towards the bathroom.

Once Kara locked herself into one of the stalls in the girls bathroom, she took out the clothes from the bag.

Owen had bought Kara hair ties, joggers and a batman T-shirt.

Kara put the clothes on and threw her hair up into a sloppy high ponytail and immediately she wanted to kiss Owen.

On her way out, Kara threw away the cat costume; it was way too dirty to clean.

Having on nice, loose, clean, comfy clothes felt _amazing_.

When Kara walked back to the waiting rooms, Owen was waiting for Kara with two coffees.

Kara grabbed one of the coffees and looked at Owen.

"Thank you so much, Owen, you are honestly the best."

Kara took a sip of her coffee and sat down.

Owen sat down next to Kara and asked,

"So, tell me. Why are we at a hospital?"

Kara looked down.

"Well, there _was_ an accident at the maze. Rose, Zoe, Anna and I all got separated and somehow, Anna ended up in the middle of the woods next to a passed out Chelsey, a bloody knife, and with a slash on her back. I've been here for a while. Everyone else has left to go get some sleep but I refuse to leave Anna alone."

Kara felt like she was going to cry again.

Owen could tell.

"Kara, Anna will be fine. At most she might have amnesia. A great amount of stress can cause it. Or Anna might have an infection but those can be treated."

"You think so?" Kara asked.

"Positive." Owen smiled at Kara.

"Come on, you've been in this hospital for too long. Let's go get some fresh air."

Owen held out his hand.

Kara agreed. She did some air.

She took Owen's hand.

Once outside, Owen left Kara alone.

But she didn't want to be alone.

Kara walked back over to Owen and grabbed his hand.

"Please stay."

Owen nodded.

Owen took Kara's other hand and slowly put both hands on his waist.

Owen released Kara's hands and moved his hands up to Kara's cheeks.

He wiped the lone tear falling down Kara's face.

Owen and Kara's faces were dangerously close.

"I'll never leave you."

Owen then closed the gap.

Owen gave Kara the gentlest of kisses a person could give.

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but when Owen went to pull back, Kara pulled him back for more.

At that moment, Kara forgot about all the bad things going on in her life.

When Kara and Owen finally pulled away, he just started at her.

"Stop that!" Kara said, covering her face.

"Stop what?" Owen asked, laughing.

"I look disgusting right now!" Kara laughed behind her hands.

Owen grabbed Kara's hands and pulled them down.

"No, I like this scrub look on you. I like seeing you relaxed, you're always so tense. Also, I am offended. I picked out your outfit. "

Kara laughed,

"You think I look good right now?"

"I think you look _smoking._ "

Kara laughed and leaned in for one more quick kiss.

"You can start your job anytime you want by the way."

Owen said after they broke apart.

Kara leaned into Owen's chest for a hug.

"Thanks."

Owen wrapped his arms around Kara.

"Anything for you."

Kara remained in Owen's chest until she was interrupted by Anna's mom.

"Kara!"

Spencer was running down the hospital stairs.

Kara let go of Owen and walked up to Spencer.

"What, Mrs. Cavanaugh?"

Spencer grabbed Kara's shoulders and said,

"I hate interrupting you're little moment, but you need to call Zoe and Rose."

"Why?"

Kara knew that calling her friends only meant two things.

bad happened to Anna

good happened to Anna

Kara was hoping for the best.

Spencer looked at Kara and smiled,

"Anna's awake."

* * *

Anna's eyes flung open. I took her a few minutes to remember where she was.

Rosewood Community Hospital.

Then Anna remembered the note that A had left her. She looked at the nightstand next to her and the note was gone.

Anna pushed to nurse button over and over again.

A had been in and out of Anna's room and now, Anna didn't want to be alone.

The nurse rushed in.

"Anything wrong?"

Anna shook her head and looked at the nurse.

"No, I just want to talk to my family and friends please."

"Ok, we will let them know that you are awake right away. In the meantime, please eat something."

The nurse nodded her head towards a cart that was next to Anna's bed.

The nurse closed the door and left Anna alone.

The room was too dark for her.

Anna reached her hand out to try to turn on her bedside lamp, but Anna's hand was just out of reach.

Anna put her arm down in defeat. She grabbed the food off the cart to see what it was.

It was some kind of sandwich and some green jello went with it.

Anna grabbed the jello. It tasted awful. Anna couldn't even tell what flavor it was.

Anna still ate it though, since she was starving.

Anna heard a noise and she quickly turned her head towards it.

Her doorknob was starting to turn. Anna panicked. She sunk down into her bed but the door quickly swung open and Anna screamed.

A hooded figure ran towards her, they jumped on the bed and started to strangle Anna.

Anna screamed and screamed but nobody ran to her rescue.

Anna stared up into the face of A.

But there was no face there.

Anna screamed again.

"Anna, it's just me calm down!"

Anna snapped back to reality.

Standing in front of Anna was a familiar face.

Victoria.

"Oh my god, Victoria! I'm sorry I just….I…" Anna dragged on. She didn't know what to say.

"Anna, it's okay, you don't have to tell me anything about it. Just calm down." Victoria said as she grabbed Anna's shoulders.

Anna took deep breaths.

Victoria smiled as she took breaths with Anna.

"You good?" She asked after a few minutes.

Anna nodded her head.

"Good. Now I hate to force these questions on you, especially right after you woke up, but we need to know what happened to you last night." Victoria said in the nicest voice possible.

Anna tried to come up with a good excuse.

Anna knew that the cops must have already asked Rose, Zoe and Kara about what happened, so Anna tried to think about what they must have said.

"We were in the maze when we all got separated. And then…."

Anna thought.

"I felt something heavy hit me. Like a pole. And then I was knocked out."

Victoria looked at Anna with a questioning look.

"Then how did you end up in the woods next to Chelsey with blood everywhere and a knife next to you? "

"I don't know."

Plain and simple.

Anna had no idea how Chelsey ended up next to Anna. Most likely A put her there, but Anna wasn't sure.

"Speaking of Chelsey, how is she?" Anna asked. It seemed like nobody was paying attention to her.

"She didn't have any major injuries but we kept her at the hospital to see why she was passed out. She woke up a few hours ago and told us her story."

Anna was curious now. Had Chelsey admitted that A had drugged her or something?

"What happened to her?" Anna urged.

"She said that she had gotten out of the maze alone and was very upset, she wouldn't tell us why, and so she used a fake I.D to buy some beer. She couldn't remember much but she did say that she wandered into the woods to pee and that she saw you there. You were all bloody and she tried to wake you up. That probably explains all the blood on her, but the alcohol over took her and she passed out. Then you're friends found her and Chelsey and called the police."

That's what happened? Chelsey had tried to save her?

Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"Can I see my family now please?" Anna was missing her friends and family terribly.

Victoria nodded her head.

"I'll go get them for you."

Victoria left, and after a few minutes Anna's mom, dad, and Brendon all walked into the room.

Spencer and Brendon were both crying and they ran up to Anna and hugged her.

The pressure killed Anna's back.

"Ow!" She yelled from under them.

They both shot back.

"Sorry, that just kinda hurt my back." Anna said while they all just stared at her.

Spencer laughed and looked at Toby.

"Nothing seems terribly wrong with her, I mean she remembers us!"

Anna looked at her mom confused.

"They thought something could have been wrong with me? How could I forget you guys?"

Brendon grabbed his sister's hand and answered,

"The doctors didn't know if there was going to be any major injuries. The biggest concern was you having bad amnesia."

"Well, they were wrong." Anna said smiling.

Toby stepped forwards to look at Anna.

"You remember everything?"

"Most of it. A prop fell and hit me and I passed out. I told Victoria everything, so you could ask her about it, I don't want to say it again."

Mainly because Anna didn't remember what she had told Victoria.

"Yea, she mentioned that when she walked in to talk to you, you were screaming at her to get away. She thinks you have PTSD. Why?"

Anna couldn't explain that without mentioning the fact that A had drugged her.

"Toby, can you please stop being a cop for three seconds and be happy that our daughter is okay!" Spencer yelled at her husband

Thank god for that.

"You're right, Spencer. I'm sorry." Toby said walking up to Anna and hugging her.

Anna hugged her dad back.

She really wanted to talk to her friends so they could come up with something to say to the police.

"Can I talk to Zoe, Kara and Rose please?" Anna asked.

"Absolutely, we'll go get them." Toby said walking towards the door.

Brendon and Spencer followed Toby out the door and once again, Anna was left alone.

Rose, Kara and Zoe ran into the room only after a few minutes.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" Kara said as she pushed everybody out of the way to get to Anna first.

Anna laughed.

"No, Kara I'm not."

The three healthy girls grabbed chairs and placed them around Anna's bed and sat down.

"We need to talk about what happened to you." Rose said, looking Anna in the eye.

Anna knew this was going to happen, so she told the girls everything that happened from the moment they got separated to when they all found Anna and Chelsey.

The story was over quick, since Anna didn't know much about what happened to her.

"Oh, my god! A basically kidnapped you!" Kara pointed out.

"Are you sure it was A?" Zoe asked. "Did you physically see them? Are you sure it wasn't Chelsey? She could have easily pretended to be passed out to cover her crime up."

"Zoe, unless Chelsey is A, which I know for a fact she isn't, I was defiantly attacked by A."

"Well, how do you know that Chelsey isn't A?"

"Zoe, A wrapped their arms around me. I felt their muscles. Plus, they lifted me up like I was nothing and threw me over their shoulder. I'm ninety nine percent sure that A, is a man."

Anna looked at Zoe, who still had a disbelieving look on her face.

Rose spoke the words that Anna was thinking,

"Why are you defending A?"

Zoe looked taken aback,

"I'm not, I'm just trying to figure things out."

"But that still doesn't explain the fact that you're basically looking at Anna like she is lying. Do you think she is making her story up!?" Rose yelled

"Rose, do not go there!" Zoe said, putting a finger up.

Rose and Zoe continued to go at it while Kara and Anna sat back and watched.

"Why aren't you answering the question Zoe, why is that!" Rose yelled, sending a disgusted look over to Zoe.

"I just don't think Anna has the whole story, A isn't a bad person." Zoe said defending herself.

Anna really wanted to cut in, how could Zoe say that, but there was a force field around Rose and Zoe. There was no way that anybody could talk and be listened to besides Zoe and Rose.

"What the hell, Zoe! How can you say that! A has done terrible things to all of us, he has manipulated me into stealing my kinda-boyfriends credit card, he broke into Kara's house and threw beer cans everywhere to get her in _huge_ trouble, and he freaking kidnapped Anna and cut her back open! How does any of that make A a good person?"

Rose was fired up now, so was Anna. How could Zoe say anything like that?

Zoe sat there, looking at the ground. She was obviously thinking about something important.

"You going to say something, Zoe? You know what I think. A hasn't threatened you in a _long_ time and I think I know why. It's because you _are_ A, Zoe!"

Everybody gasped.

"Absolutely not! A has threatened me plenty of times, I just haven't told you because I forgave them." Zoe said. She was standing up also.

Rose looked at Zoe, disgusted.

"How? What could he have done to help you, bitch?"

Rose had taken it way too far.

"Rose, sit down, you-" Anna started to say, but she was interrupted by Zoe.

"Rose, you have no idea of all the _shit_ I've been through. I have been to hell and back, so don't you _dare_ try to question me!" Zoe said, pointing at Rose.

"Like what?" Rose said, slightly less angered.

Zoe was pointing at Rose, and Anna was at just a perfect enough angle to see what was under Zoe's sleeve.

"Zoe, what's on your wrist?"

It was silent in the room now.

"Zoe!" Anna was extremely concerned now.

"Nothing." Zoe said, pulling her sleeves down.

"Zoe, if you don't show me your wrists right now, I will physically get up and see them for myself."

To prove a point, Anna sat up and started to take her blanket off. A lot of movement hurt Anna, but if what she saw on Zoe's wrist wasn't just some mind trick, Anna would be even more devastated.

"Okay, Anna sit back down!" Zoe put her arms out. She walked over to Anna.

Zoe sat on the bed and all the girls looked at Zoe.

Zoe pulled up her sleeves and tears started to stream down everyone's faces.

"I'm sorry." Zoe said very quietly.

Going down both wrists where many deep cuts. Dried blood was stained to most of them. Some of these cuts were new.

"Zoe, what happened? I know that these are not from Daniel hitting you."

Zoe brought her arms back to her body and answered Anna.

"Friday night, I was mad at my family and I just wanted to go for a walk. I was in the middle of nowhere and Daniel came up from behind me…"

Zoe trailed off. Tears where streaming down her face.

Anna didn't want to budge, but she needed to hear the rest of the story.

Anna was scared that she might already know the ending.

"He grabbed me and tried to force me into the woods."

Zoe was crying hard and was gasping for air after every other word.

"He pushed me down and… and dragged me into the woods. He started to kiss me….. and….. and he started to grab me and…..and….. I was screaming but nobody heard me! I was just praying someone would hear me but nobody did!"

Anna's heart was broken.

She was pretty sure that all of the girl's hearts where broken.

Anna grabbed Zoe's hand.

Anna didn't want Zoe to be forced to say what happened, so Anna asked.

"Did he rape you?"

Zoe nodded her head.

"That asshole!" Kara shouted, standing up.

Zoe steadied her breath and finished her story.

"After what felt like forever, someone came. They were dressed in all black and they forced Daniel off of me. A saved me. That's why I found it hard to believe that it was A that hurt Anna."

"Zoe, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You are not a bitch at all. I feel terrible!" Rose said, grabbing Zoe's other hand.

"Rose, don't apologize, I would have said the same thing if I were you."

Zoe and Rose hugged.

Everyone said there apologies to Zoe, and explained n how bad everyone felt, an d after a few minuets of pity for Zoe, Zoe interrupted everyone.

"Can we talk about something else please?"

Anna respected Zoe, and she didn't want to stress her out, so Anna tried her best to pretend like the whole conversation had never happened. Anna was pretty sure the other girls felt the same way.

The group would have to get back to Zoe and her self-harm later.

"Yea, we can talk about something else." Anna said. But nobody started talking.

Everyone looked at Kara. She always had the biggest drama out of the entire group, and she was abnormally quite.

"Wow." Kara said, throwing her hands back.

"Come on you always have something to talk about."

"Um…" Kara looked out at the door.

"Oh, yea I have some news!"

"No wonder." Zoe said, twirling her finger, urging Kara to go on.

"Well, while you guys were all gone today, I stayed. You guys all know Owen right?" Kara asked.

They all nodded their heads yes.

"Well, when I told him I was here, he rushed over because he thought I was hurt, not Anna, and he bought me some clothes to change into," Kara pointed to her clothes, "and yea, we talked and one thing led to another and well… we kissed."

"You what!" Anna asked, looking at Kara.

"We kissed." Kara repeated.

"Did you kiss him back?" Zoe asked.

"Of course I did." Kara said, covering up her face in embarrassment.

"I can't believe that you are dating Owen." Anna said.

"Well, I don't know about that." Kara said, putting her hands down.

"Oh, come on, you kissed. That has to mean something." Rose said, looking at Kara.

"I don't know." Kara said looking down.

"Well you have to tell us everything about it." Rose said, nudging Kara.

"It was really simple. I was freaking out over Anna and he took me out side to get some fresh air and to calm down. I was still upset so her stayed with me and held me while I cried and… our faces where so close and I figured that Owen and I have been through a lot of stuff together and we understood each other, and then it just kinda happened." Kara said, blushing.

"Aw!" The whole gang said.

Anna nodded her head, "I ship it. Kowen has a nice ring to it."

Kara opened her mouth wide and hit Anna on the arm.

"Ouch." Anna said sarcastically.

Kara laughed in Anna's face.

"Okay, enough about me. Rose needs to tell us about her love life."

Kara then looked at Rose.

"What? I don't have a love life, Kara!"

"You did say you had a 'kinda-boyfriend' when you were going off on me." Zoe pointed out.

Anna now joined the new conversation by saying,

"You are also wearing a Steelers hoodie which I know for a fact you do not own. You hate football. Also, it reeks of Axe body spray, which is obvious you don't use."

Rose looked down at her hoodie.

"Crap."

"Got you." Anna said in victory.

"So, tell us about this mystery man." Anna urged on.

Rose looked up at the group.

"Well, his name is Zak and we met a few weeks ago at the brew."

"Nice spot." Kara commented.

Anna looked over at her. Kara was eating Anna's sandwich.

Anna was going to say something, but didn't. Kara was probably as, or more, starving than Anna.

"Sorry." Kara said when she noticed Anna staring at her.

"Continue." Anna said to Rose after rolling her eyes sarcastically.

"I was going to get another coffee when I bumped into Zak. He spilled his steaming hot coffee all over me and it was basically burning my skin off, so he gave me his hoodie to change into. I guess I forgot to give it back." Anna said, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"Yea and what else? You said that A made you take his credit card." Zoe said, pointing out details.

"Oh yea. A threatened to spill my whole Jason/car secret unless I took my dad's credit card and spent _a lot_ of money. I didn't want to do that, so when I went on a date with Zak, I took a picture of his card and pretended it was my dad's. That obviously didn't fool A, and that screwed up my date because when Zak tried to kiss me, I felt guilty and backed away."

"How did we not know about this?" Kara yelled.

"Keeping secrets is a good talent in the Fitz family."

Anna was confused.

"Does Zak go to our school? I don't know anyone named Zak."

Rose shook her head.

"No, he is a junior at Hollis. He started out as my math tutor, but now I don't know what we are. He hasn't talked to me since Friday night."

"Rose, he's like, four years older than you. Maybe he realized that you're a little young for him." Anna said, crushing Rose's heart.

"I hope not. Maybe he ran out of data on his phone or something and that's why he's not texting me." Rose said. She was trying to make up excuses.

"He could have at least bothered to stop by and tell you that."

"Anna! Shut up for a second." Zoe spat at Anna.

Anna did as she was told.

It was silent until the door opened again.

It was Anna's nurse.

"Anna, you have another visitor who wants to see you."

Anna was confused. She didn't have any other friends.

"Okay, guys I'll talk to you later okay?"

Kara's face grew worried,

"Wait, Anna I have to tell you something! It's really-"

"Kara, you can just tell me tomorrow." Anna interrupted.

Rose grabbed Kara's hand and dragged her out the door.

Zoe was out last, and she made eye contact with Anna's new visitor.

"Dylan?"

Anna's face want white.

He was here to see Anna!

Anna fixed her hair in 1.2 seconds as Dylan walked in.

"Hi" he said.

He was holding a bouquet of flowers.

Zoe's mouth was hanging open behind Dylan.

Anna gave her a look that said, "Don't leave!" but Zoe smiled and mouthed back, "Nope." Then she left the room.

Now it was just Anna and Dylan.

Dylan walked over to Anna and put the flowers onto the bedside table and sat down.

"Anna…" Dylan said, than he sighed.

Anna was scared of what he was going to say.

He looked at her and laughed.

Anna grew confused.

"What?" She asked, laughing along with Dylan.

"I told you, that the next time someone chased you, that you had to call me so I could hold your inhaler!"

Anna laughed, but she was also very concerned.

How did Dylan know someone was chasing Anna?

Does he now about A?

When the laughing died down, Dylan asked,

"So, before you got knocked out, how did you like the maze? Where you scared when the workers chased you? Did you even need your inhaler?"

Thank god. That's what Dylan meant by somebody chasing her.

"Oh, I didn't think it was that scary. Yea, people chased me but I was fine. But I could have really used you! A inhaler holder would be amazing!"

Anna tried to get rid of the tenseness her body.

It wasn't working. She sparked another conversation with Dylan.

"Thanks for the flowers." Anna said, looking at them.

"No problem, when I heard that you were in the hospital with a giant slash going down your back, I had to get here. When I got here you were talking with your friends, so I tried to talk to your parents, but it got weird, so I bought you these flowers and waited until it was my turn."

Dylan waited for her?

"Thanks, Dylan. You know that you can come anytime right? Just ask to come in and anyone else in here can be booted out."

Anna sounded too needy.

"I will, thank you." Dylan said, smiling at Anna.

"Did you see Chelsey yet?" Anna asked. She was wondering who he chose to see first. Anna basically wanted to see who he cared for more.

Dylan did say he waited for a long time, but did he see Chelsey sometime in that time period.

"No, she doesn't have any injuries! She just passed out from the alcohol. I had to see you first." Dylan said, picking at the dead flowers.

How long did he wait. If the flowers were dead, then how long was he sitting in the waiting room?

And also, oh my god, Dylan chose Anna over Chelsey.

Anna kept her cool.

"Are you going to see Chelsey?"

Dylan sat on Anna's bed and answered,

"Probably not. We've been having problems for a long time, and after the maze I saw her with some person, I couldn't really tell but it looked like a guy. The two of them walked off together and when she came back I ended it with her and a few minutes later she walked into the concessions and walked out with some beers."

Anna's heart just broke.

She didn't know what to do, so she followed her instincts.

"I am so sorry, Dylan. Chelsey is an idiot; you're too good of a person to be hurt." Anna said, grabbing Dylan's hand.

Dylan squeezed Anna's hand.

"Thanks Anna. You're too good of a person to be inside a hospital. Maybe if I was brave enough to end it with Chelsey sooner and ask you to the corn maze, you wouldn't have a bloody gash going down your back."

Dylan wanted to ask Anna to the corn maze?

"I don't think anything could have stopped that pole or knife of whatever fell on me, but please. Next time, ask me. I'll say yes." Anna said, looking Dylan in the eye.

"I will." Said Dylan.

Anna's stomach rumbled, killing the mood.

She wrapped her hand around her stomach and laughed.

Dylan laughed too. He pulled something out of his coat pocket and handed it to Anna.

"Here, take this bag of sunchips. I got them for myself but I can just go home and eat something, you can't."

Anna took the sunchips.

"You just so happened to get my favorite flavor." Anna said ripping the bag of cheese sunchips open.

"It must be a sign." Dylan said, standing up to leave.

Dylan was almost to the door when Anna shouted,

"Wait, Dylan!"

He jumped.

"What?"

"Can you turn that lamp on?"

Dylan walked back over to table and turned on the lamp that nobody bothered to turn on.

"Thanks." Anna said, smiling up at Dylan.

Dylan leaned forwards and kissed Anna on the forehead.

"Anytime." Dylan said.

Anna could feel her face turn red.

Dylan opened the door, but before he left her yelled,

"Remember to call me!"

Anna smiled and as soon as the door closed, she set a reminder on her phone to call Dylan first thing tomorrow morning.

* * *

 **AN: Ta-da!**

 **I knew this chapter was going to be kinda boring, so I tried to get some romance up in here. I created Kowen (Kara and Owen) and I'm starting to introduce some Dyna (Dylan and Anna.)**

 **I also included a little bit of Haleb and a nice father daughter moment with Kara and Caleb.**

 **I also threw in the Zoe self harm and confession thing, but I'm not even close to being done with that idea.**

 **Remember to review, still need a gender for Zoe's love interest and some A ideas.**

 **Speaking of reviews, I want to give a shoutout to:**

 **Halebxxx**

 **They have reviewed a lot and they have helped me with ideas.**

 **Thanks I love that you love the story!**

 **Please follow/favorite/ and review!**

 **Love you! 3**

 **-Jessica**


	10. Surprise!

**AN: Hello! I'm literally loving life right now, and I am enjoying writing this so much!**

 **I am also loving all the positive feedback I have been getting. It makes my day!**

 **I want to welcome two new followers and favoriters:**

 **Emilie2601**

 **She left a review too.**

 **Lauraosnes**

 **I want to keep this anon short so remember to review and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

It has been three days since the corn maze, and all four girls were still being questioned every day.

Rose felt that this was useless since the girls have told the cops the same thing every time.

The cops also have an explanation on why Chelsey was in the woods also, so what's the point.

Rose now lay on the floor in her room, staring at the ceiling.

She had a million things running through her head, but Rose's main concern was Zoe.

Rose had been terrible to Zoe that day in the hospital.

She had even called her a bitch, which was what A had called the girls almost every text they sent.

Rose was wondering what Zoe was doing at this very moment.

Hopefully she wasn't alone. Kara and Rose have been trying to make sure that one of them was always around Zoe ever since they found out that she was cutting, but Zoe really wanted the girls to leave.

So Rose and Kara did.

Anna wanted to help out too since she got out if the hospital the day after the girls found out about Zoe, but she was under house arrest.

All the girls kinda were. They were all scared to leave their houses unless one of the girls was going to another's house.

Rose heard her phone buzz.

She wondered who it was.

Rose hoped that it would be Zak. She still hasn't heard from him since their date.

Why would Zak be ignoring her?

Sure, there was the fact that Rose had stolen his credit card, or that Rose had refused to kiss him

Rose looked at her phone and her heart fluttered.

 **I'm coming over.**

 **-Zak**

Rose didn't know if that was good or bad.

Rose stood up and looked at herself in the mirror.

She was a mess. Rose ran a quick brush through her hair and ran to brush her teeth.

She wasn't sure why she felt the urgent need to; she and Zak were obviously not going to do anything with their mouths other than talking.

Rose's parents were home and they knew that Zak hadn't talked to her since the date, and they really didn't like Zak at the moment.

Rose stepped outside so she could meet Zak out there so they could skip the awkwardness of Rose's parents.

After a few minutes, Rose saw Zak's car. He parked a few houses down from Rose's and Rose met him at the car.

Zak looked at her and blew a sigh of relief.

"You're okay." He said, grabbing Rose's face.

Rose took a step back, signaling that she didn't want to be touched.

"Of course I'm okay, but you wouldn't know since _you haven't talked to me since Friday!"_

Rose said the last part sharply.

Zak's face turned sad.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I had to get back to Hollis on a short notice and when I tried to text you, it wouldn't go through. I don't know why since I had perfect connection. I figured that I would try again the next day but it still wouldn't go through. I then decided that I would drive here the next weekend and see you but then I saw the newspaper. It said that there was an accident at a local corn maze and people were hurt. I was stupid and didn't read the article but I skimmed it and saw your name, Rose. I dropped the paper and drove back to Rosewood as fast as I can."

Okay, that made Rose a little less angry, but she was not quite at the point of forgiveness. Rose was more mad at A. If Zak was telling the truth, it was probably A who caused the bad connection.

Rose said nothing.

"Rose, I'm not lying, I tried to-"

"It's not the fact that I think your lying, it's the fact that I didn't hear from you in four days and I thought you didn't care about me, Zak! I'm mad at the fact that you were willing to wait until the _freaking weekend_ to come check up on me! If the roles were reversed, I would make my way back to you as soon as the first call wouldn't go through!"

Rose interrupted Zak.

"Rose, I wasn't thinking."

"That it _not_ an excuse. I have gone through so much crap in these four days, things have happened to me and my friends and I really needed you, but I was left in the dark!"

Rose had tears slowly streaming down her face now.

"Rose, don't cry. I will do anything. I'm a asshole I see that, but I really need you to see that I care about you so much. My heart broke when I thought you were hurt! I got two speeding tickets coming over here!" Zak opened his car to retrieve the tickets to prove his innocence to Rose, but she didn't care.

Rose wiped her eyes and shook her head.

"Zak, stop."

He turned back to Rose.

Zak looked at Rose with that sad, I did nothing wrong, look.

Rose's tolerance skyrocketed from this.

"Oh, don't you _dare_ give me that look. I have been through shit, all of my friends have been through shit, but they all have someone looking after them. Everyone but little old Rose. I'm putting my troubles aside for them but I'm done, Zak. I have had nobody to hold me and tell me that I was going to be okay. So don't you dare think for any reason that you didn't do anything wrong because I am seriously done with you."

Rose gave Zak one last look and turned around to walk back to her house.

"Rose!" Zak called after her but she didn't respond.

Rose kept walking but was soon interrupted.

Zak grabbed Rose's hand and spun her around.

As soon as Rose was facing Zak, he kissed her.

Rose let him. She didn't know why but she did.

Rose kissed back. Hard.

Zak had brought his hands up to Rose's face and he held it there.

Rose's hands were exploring Zak's body and found a resting place on his hips.

Rose didn't know how long they were like this, but her and Zak broke apart when she heard something hard hit the ground.

Rose looked at the cause of the noise.

"Sorry."

I was Kara.

"Kara! What are you doing?!"

Rose looked at Zak and his face was bright red. Rose's was probably red too.

"I texted you that I was coming over but you didn't respond so I decided to walk over and I saw you talking with this guy," Kara pointed at Zak, " and I decided I would wait until you two were done talking so I hid behind this trash can," Kara signaled around at her feet at the tipped over trash can, "but then you started to make out so I stayed there and, I lost my balance and….oopsie."

Kara said, her face was red too.

"Kara, you could have just left." Rose said putting her hand on her forehead.

"Sorry." Kara said, looking at Rose and Zak.

Kara smiled and pulled Rose next to her,

"Is this that Zak guy?" She whispered.

Rose said, loudly, "Yes. Kara, meet Zak, Zak, meet Kara."

They shook hands.

"He's cute." Kara said to Rose.

Again, Rose and Zak's faces were red.

"Kara, you have Owen, remember." Rose said, reminding Kara of her boyfriend.

"I know, I know. I'm just… complimenting you." Kara said, saving herself.

Everyone just stood there for a while.

"Okay, I'm third-wheeling, so I'll just meet you at your house." Kara said to Rose, and then quickly walked off.

Rose turned back to Zak.

"Sorry"

Zak laughed.

"Thanks okay. You told her about me?"

Rose looked at the ground and tried to avoid eye contact. This whole moment was really embarrassing.

"Uh, yea. When I was at the hospital I told my friends about you." Rose said to the ground.

Zak put his hand under Rose's chin and lifted it up so Rose was looking at him.

"All good things, I hope."

Rose looked at Zak. It was now that she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him. Rose took a step back.

"Actually I told them how you abandoned me after our date, which I thought wasn't that bad."

"Oh, god, not this again"

"Oh, yea, this again. Just because you kissed me does not mean that were fine again. I'm still upset." Rose crossed her arms.

"Okay. I know that nothing I can say will make you forgive me completely, but you should know that when I saw the newspaper, my dorm mates told me not to go."

Rose though this was irrelevant.

"What?" Rose said confused.

"I told them about you, but, unlike you, Rose, I told them the good things. I told them about your beautiful smile, your beautiful blue eyes and about how your black hair flows down your back. I told them of how understanding you were and how forgiving you were and I told them about when we first met and all the times we texted that all I wanted to do was hug and kiss you. I told them about our first date, and that included how I tried to kiss you but you wouldn't let me for some reason. And because of that, they thought that you weren't worth it. They thought you were some ignorant little junior in high school. But I didn't think so, so I drove all the way back here."

Rose looked at him again. Rose smiled.

"Your friends are assholes."

Zak laughed and hugged Rose.

"I'm sorry," Rose said to his chest, "I am pretty ignorant."

Zak pulled her away and looked at Rose in the eyes.

"No you are not. But, we can talk about this later, since your friend is waiting. I'm not going to drive back to Hollis until next weekend so if you're not busy, you can spend the night at my apartment sometime this week."

"Sure, I'd love that."

Rose knew that her night with Zak could go many ways, but Rose hoped that she wouldn't have to do anything illegal, since Rose was a minor.

Maybe Zak was planning something else and they wouldn't have to break any laws.

"Great." Said Zak smiling.

Rose smiled too and then Zak leaned down to kiss her. Rose let him and as soon as it was over, Rose started to walk back to her house and Zak got back in his car.

When Rose entered her house, her mom was in the kitchen cleaning up.

"Hey, Rose." Aria said looking up from her work.

"Hey." Rose said, walking over to the fridge.

"Where were you?" Aria said turning to look at her daughter.

Rose grabbed a yogurt and peeled of the lid.

"Just out for a little walk."

"Really?" her mom asked. "You left the house without telling me?"

Rose grabbed a spoon and took a bite.

"I wanted some fresh air."

"Okay." Aria said, suspiciously, picking up the wet wash cloth.

Rose started walking up the stairs to her room when her mom called after her.

"Oh, Rose, Kara stopped by. She's in your room waiting for you."

"Okay, thanks mom." Rose said running up the stairs to her room.

Rose entered her room and closed the door.

Kara was sitting on Rose's bed.

"What the hell, Kara." Rose said walking to her bed.

"What? I needed to talk to you so I waited my turn." Kara said in her defense.

"You didn't have to spy on Zak and I." Rose said, now sitting on her bed.

"I couldn't help it."

Kara said, lying down.

"Are you guys in a fight or something? You seemed pretty mad after I left." Kara asked.

"You were spying on us?" Rose asked.

"Yea… I couldn't help it."

Rose hit Kara really hard on the leg.

"Rose that hurt!" Kara shouted sitting back up.

"Don't spy on me!"

"I'm sorry that I'm good at it."

"Let's leave spying to A. They do enough of it." Rose said to Kara.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Kara said, still rubbing her leg.

"I'm sorry about your leg. I think I have slight anger issues." Rose said, standing up.

Kara stood up also, "Its fine. It happens to the best of us."

"Do you want me to get you ice?" Rose said seeing Kara's hurt face from the pain of her standing.

"Please?"

Rose smiled and left her room to get ice for Kara.

"-She's lying to us, Ezra."

Rose stopped halfway down the stairs when she heard the sound of her mom's voice.

"Aria, she lied about kissing Zak, any kid would do that to their parents." Ezra said to his wife.

Rose quickly walked to the top of the stairs so she was hidden from the sight of her parents.

"Ezra, one lie can lead to another, then another and then another. I was the biggest liar when I was Rose's age and I can tell when someone is lying and Rose has been lying to us for a long time." Aria said. Even though Rose couldn't see her mother, she could tell that Aria was pacing the room and was worried.

"I think you're over reacting, Aria. She will tell us about her boyfriend when she wants to. She kissed him not even ten minutes ago."

Rose was flattered that her dad was sticking up for her, but how did they know that Rose and Zak had kissed. Had Kara used her big mouth and spilled the news to her mom.

Aria spoke again,

"I saw the whole thing! Rose was angry at Zak about something, and I know that it wasn't just about the fact that Zak hasn't reached out to her, there are some hidden details mixed in there. I've been suspicious of Rose ever since she found out about us, but if that light from Zak's car hadn't shone in my face and caught my attention and I didn't see the whole conversation, I would still be suspicious."

So that's how Aria knew.

Rose had to tell the group about how her mom was suspicious. Everyone else's parents where putting the pieces together themselves.

Rose was going to stay for only a few more minutes to gather more information when Rose's phone rang.

The noise was loud, and Rose knew that she had no choice but to walk down the stairs.

Rose put her little acting ability to use and walked down the stairs, pretending that she had no idea what her parents were talking about.

Rose walked over to the freezer and opened it to retrieve some ice for Kara's leg.

When Rose turned around she saw that her parents had gotten up and walked over to the kitchen.

"Hey, Rose." Aria said in a monotone voice.

"Hi?" Rose said in a confused tone.

Aria looked at her husband and gave him a look that said, "Watch this, I'm right."

Aria looked at Rose and asked, "Anything fun happen on your walk?"

Ha. Rose could tell what her mom was doing.

Rose took advantage of this.

"Well," Rose began, "I would say that it was just a boring old walk but I know that you would accuse me of lying again, so, yes. My walk was very interesting but I don't need to tell you the details because you already know them." Rose said, looking her mother in the eye.

"What?" Aria asked, astonished. "How do you know about that?"

Rose looked at her parents and said with a smirk,

"Like you, I'm a good spy."

With one last glare, Rose gripped the ice and walked back up the stairs to her room.

Rose walked in her room and flopped down on her bed next to Kara.

"Finally." Kara said, grabbing the ice from Rose's hand. Kara sat up and put the ice to her leg.

"What took so long?" Kara asked, looking down at Rose.

Rose let out a long sigh and replied, "I caught my parents discussing on how I'm a lair. They knew that I kissed Zak and my mom was mad that I didn't tell her and then she confronted me about it…it was a mess, Kara but I got the last word."

"Okay….well, I came over because I think that we should all go to Anna's tonight, we haven't all talked all as a group since the hospital"

"Yea, that's a great idea. Did you tell Zoe and Anna yet?"

"I've texted Zoe and she's on board but Zoe and I think that we should surprise Anna."

Rose nodded her head. She liked the idea.

"Okay, cool. When are we going?"

"Not till later tonight."

Rose suddenly remembered the text she had gotten at the top of the stairs.

 _ **Your mom's a lair, and you're a bitch. You're starting to get more and more like me, Rose.**_

 _ **-A**_

"Oh, god." Rose complained, throwing her phone down on the bed.

"A?" Kara asked, grabbing Rose's phone.

"Who else?"

Kara read the text and looked at Rose.

"Don't worry, you're nothing like A."

"Thanks." Rose said, unenthusiastically.

Kara flopped down next to Rose and together, they lay there in silence.

It was only a matter of minutes until Rose fell asleep.

* * *

Zoe didn't bother using band aids anymore. When Zoe cut herself, she watched herself in the mirror as her wrists bled. Zoe watched until she saw the life drain from her.

It was getting harder and harder for Zoe to feel physical pain. Sure, the mental part was still there, but Zoe had cut so much, that she was numb. She had to cut deeper and deeper each time.

After only a few days, Zoe had cuts going up and down both arms. She cut at least three times a day, but now it was getting harder to grasp the pain, so Zoe cut deep.

But not too deep.

Zoe did _not_ want to kill herself. Zoe wanted to live more than anything. That's why she cut, because the pain made her feel alive. Zoe looked at herself in the mirror and saw her dead self. She looked down to see no more blood draining from her and Zoe debated if she should do one more slice or not.

Zoe wanted to, but she knew she had to get ready for the sleepover with Anna, Rose and Kara.

Zoe cleaned off the razor and rinsed the sink out with water.

Zoe looked through her closet and found a blue long sleeve shirt. She put it on with a pair of black yoga pants and threw her hair up in a ponytail.

She packed a few things like a toothbrush and pajamas and soon, Zoe was walking down the stairs.

Zoe walked passed her parents in the kitchen making dinner.

"Hey, Zoe." Emily said, peeling carrots.

Zoe fake-smiled at her mom. "Hey."

Zoe had recently discovered that she was an _amazing_ liar. She always put on a smile around people and she even convinced her friends that she was fine and was not cutting anymore.

Zoe grabbed her keys from the counter and prepared to walk out the door.

"You going somewhere?" Alison asked, looking up from her laptop."

Zoe grabbed the keys and looked at Alison.

"Uh, yea. We all decided that we're going to surprise Anna tonight. We're sleeping over her house tonight too."

Emily looked up at Zoe.

"You have school tomorrow."

"I don't think any of us are planning on going to school this week."

"Zoe, you've already missed a week of school, I don't think missing another is good for you."

Zoe thought about this. She did have to go to school, but she didn't think that she was ready.

"Okay, let's make a compromise. Just let me have tomorrow off and I'll go back on Tuesday."

Alison and Emily stared at each other, discussing in private.

"Yeah, Okay. We can work with that." Alison said smiling at her daughter.

Zoe fake-smiled back, gave a quite thanks, and walked to her car.

* * *

Zoe was banging on Rose's door. She had been knocking for minuets and nobody had answered yet.

Zoe was about to knock again when the door flung open.

"Hi, Mrs. Fitz."

"Hey, Zoe. Are you looking for Rose and Kara?"

Zoe nodded her head. "Yea, I texted them that I was on my way over but they didn't respond."

Aria stepped aside and beckoned for Zoe to come in.

"There both in Rose's room." Aria said, pointing up the stairs.

Zoe nodded and said, "Thanks," and made her way up the stairs.

Zoe didn't bother knocking, she just opened her door. Both Kara and Rose were asleep on Rose's bed.

Zoe looked at them, jealous. They both looked so peaceful. Zoe was angry at that; they actually had the ability to get some sleep.

Zoe shook he head. She was being ridiculous. Zoe was just fed up, and she needed to get over it.

Zoe grabbed a pillow and smacked Rose over the head with it.

Rose shot up, which awoke Kara, who shot up also.

They both looked at Zoe.

"Come on, let's go." Zoe said, already turning to the door.

"God, way to be subtle." Kara said sitting up.

Together the three of them walked out the door to Zoe's car.

* * *

 _Bang…bang…bang._

Zoe banged on the door.

After a few knocks, Brendon opened the door.

"We came to see Anna." Kara said from behind Zoe.

"She's upstairs." Brendon said, moving aside to let the girls in.

"Thanks." All the girls murmured at once.

Brendon grabbed a bag and headed for the door.

Zoe stepped in front of Brendon and stopped him.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Brendon looked up at Zoe annoyed.

"This place makes me depressed and I want to leave."

Kara stepped forward and grabbed Brendon's arm.

"You're not running away, are you?"

Brendon pulled his arm out from under Kara and said, "No. I'm just spending the night at my friends, calm down."

"Does Anna know? Do your parents?" Zoe asked.

Brendon shook his head. "They don't care. There too focused on Anna to care where I'm at right now. And yeah, Anna knows. She was going to ask one of you to spend the night or something but I guess you all beat her to it."

"Okay, well where are your parents?" Rose asked, joining the conversation.

"Out."

"Out?" All the girls said at once.

"Yes, out. Now move." Brendon said, shoving through all the girls.

He was out the door in a matter of seconds.

"He's related to Anna? He's kinda a buzzkill." Kara said, looking at Zoe and Rose.

"Leave it alone, Kara. He's obviously depressed so let's just let it be." Zoe said, understanding what Brendon was saying.

They all walked up the stairs in silence. They really wanted to surprise Anna.

"I'll go in first." Zoe said, pushing past Rose and Kara.

Zoe opened up Anna's door, but nobody was in Anna's pitch black room.

"What the-" Zoe began, but she was interrupted by a large object hitting her.

"Gah!"

Anna had ran out from the corner and tackled Zoe.

"Get out of my house you bastard!" Anna screamed, pinning Zoe down.

The feeling of hands around Zoe's wrists and a body on top of her was bringing back memories to Zoe.

Not good ones.

"Get off, please!" Zoe screamed, trying to get Anna off. But just like that night, Zoe was weak.

It seemed to go by in slow motion. Anna was screaming at Zoe, trying to beat her up or something, and Zoe was screaming/crying, because every time Zoe looked up, it was Daniel pinning Zoe down, not Anna.

"Please get off! Please, please please! Stop!" Zoe was screaming over and over again.

"If you touch a hair on my friend's heads I swear to god I will kill you!" Anna was screaming back.

Anna and Zoe were both going through some PTSD. Anna was most likely seeing A, and Zoe was seeing Daniel.

"Get off!" Kara yelled.

Zoe snapped back to reality. Kara had grabbed Anna and Rose was trying to calm Zoe down.

"Zoe, it's okay, you're safe, Daniel isn't here." Rose said, rubbing Zoe's back.

Kara was doing the same to Rose, except replacing Daniel with A.

After a few minutes, Zoe had calmed down, but Anna was still gasping for air.

Kara shot up and grabbed Anna's inhaler and gave it to her.

After using it, Anna said, "What a messed up life we have."

The girl all nodded their heads.

"I'm sorry," Anna began, "it's not the first time. I just heard somebody walking around my house and I panicked and hid and when you walked in, my brain went haywire and I though Zoe was A. I'm really sorry, Zoe."

Zoe still had tears rolling down her face, "It's okay, Anna. My PTSD did the same thing.

Rose tightened her grip on Zoe.

"Daniel."

Zoe cringed at his name.

"Sorry"

"You're fine."

Kara looked at Anna.

"Surprise?"

The girls all laughed, except for Zoe. She was still freaked out.

Anna got up and made her way back to her bed.

"What are you all doing here anyway?" She asked.

Kara stood up and walked over to Anna's bed to sit with her.

"We felt bad that you were alone all the time so we thought we would all come and see you."

Rose, removing her arm from around Zoe's shoulder, stood up to sit at Anna's desk.

"We expected your whole family to be here, but they are all gone, so we can have the whole house to ourselves, so it's even better." Rose said when she sat down.

"Yea, it made me sad that they were all back to their normal lives so fast, but then again, it's a relief." Anna said to the girls.

Kara perked up at a sudden thought. "Oh, speaking normal, which this isn't, Rose and Zak are talking again. Well, there doing a lot more than talking."

Kara winked at Rose.

"What?" Anna asked loudly.

"Kara! This is why we can't tell you anything." Rose yelled, throwing an eraser at Kara.

It successfully hit Kara on the arm.

"Ow, Rose. You'd think I would have learned by now that making you angry results in pain."

Zoe looked at Kara, confused. "What?"

Rose answered for Kara. "I think I've got a slight bit of anger issues."

"Slight?" Kara said, rolling up her pant leg.

There was a dark, fist side bruise.

"Oh, my god, Rose!" Anna yelled when she saw the bruise.

"I'm sorry! Kara shouldn't of been spying on Zak and I."

"What happened with you and Zak?" Zoe asked.

"Well, you all know that Zak has kind of been ignoring me right?"

The girls nodded.

Rose continued, "Well, he came to see me earlier today and apologized. I was hard on him for it but, I don't really know what happened. I turned away thinking I had won but he grabbed me and kissed me."

"Hard." Kara added.

"Don't make me throw another eraser!" Rose said, grabbing an eraser and aiming it at Kara.

Kara threw herself behind Anna for protection.

"Are you too a thing now?" Anna asked, ignoring Kara who had jumped behind her.

"I don't know." Rose answered.

"Did he say anything to hint it?" Zoe asked, crossing her legs on the floor.

"He invited me over his apartment this weekend. To, you know, spend the night."

Kara jumped up from behind Anna and said in a loud tone,

"He wants to have sex with you!"

Rose's face turned red. So did Zoe's. Zoe hated that word: sex. Maybe it was because she had a bad experience with it.

"Rose, you can't go!" Zoe said. She was shaking again.

Rose got up and sat next to Zoe.

"Zoe, I'm going. I'll just make sure we do nothing illegal." Rose finished her sentence and looked at Zoe.

"Are you shaking?"

Yes, Zoe was. She wasn't cold or anything, yea she was freaked out still, but not enough to where she would be shaking in fear.

Rose put her hand on Zoe's. "Are you okay?"

Zoe nodded her head and went to stand up.

Then a sudden wave of nausea rushed through her.

Zoe ran to the bathroom and puked in the toilet.

After the nasty bile shot up her throat, she sat there.

Zoe cried. Why was she puking? She didn't feel sick.

Zoe flushed the toilet and look at herself in the mirror.

Rose heard banging at the door.

"Zoe, are you okay? Do you need a ride home?"

It was Kara.

Zoe sniffled, "No I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes."

Zoe heard Kara's footsteps as she left.

Zoe put her head down to stop the nausea. Zoe noticed that her sleeve was covered in blood. One of Zoe's cuts had split back open.

"Shit."

Zoe searched through Anna's drawers and found a Band-Aid and put it on her wrist.

Zoe exited the bathroom and walked back to Anna's room.

They all looked at Zoe in concern.

"I'm fine guys." Zoe said, sitting on the bed next to the three girls.

"You sure you don't want to go home?" Anna asked. "It won't offend me."

"No, I don't want to go home. Can we talk about something else please?" Zoe said, staring at the celling.

"I start my job tomorrow." Kara said, unenthusiastically.

"Kara, that's awesome. Why aren't you excited?" Anna asked.

Kara sighed, "Since Owen and I are dating now, I'm scared he won't tell me the hard truth. He won't tell me if I suck at it or not."

Rose shook her head. "Kara, your overthinking this. You're passing out coffee, you'll be fine."

"Thank." Kara said, still in a sad tone.

"Hey, Anna, how are you and Dylan? You still haven't told us what happened when we left you at the hospital." Rose asked, changing the subject.

Anna laughed. "We're friends. He just wanted to know if I was fine and he told me he and Chelsey were over. He didn't really say much, just that we needed to hang out more. We've texted but he hasn't come to see me yet"

"That's because you haven't invited him over!" Kara said in a tone the said, duh.

"I know. I don't know if he should come over yet. We're not anything special, but I do want to see him. Maybe I'll invite him over after school tomorrow."

"You're going to school tomorrow?" Kara asked.

"No, Kara. I can barely stand. He would come over after _he_ went to school."

"Are any of us going to school this week?" Rose asked.

"I am." Zoe said. It was the first thing she had said in a while.

"My parents are making me. I've already missed a week and missing another would not help me graduate. I can skip tomorrow but I'm going back on Tuesday."

Kara looked at Zoe. "If you're going, I am too."

Zoe did another one of her fake smiles. "Thanks."

"I'll go too." Rose said.

"I would go, but I'm on house arrest so…" Anna trailed off.

"Don't worry, I'll bring back all you're assignments." Zoe said to Anna.

"Thanks you're the best." Anna said, grabbing Zoe's hand.

"I'll butter you up for Dylan. Tell him all the good things about you, see if he gets the hint that you're amazing and should kiss you already." Kara said to Anna seriously. Zoe didn't doubt that she would.

"Kara I swear if you do I will make you sorry!" Anna said to Kara.

All the girls' phones buzzed.

Zoe looked at her phone:

 _ **Making you sorry is my job. Hang tight girls, I'll be there soon.**_

 _ **-A**_

"What?" Anna yelled.

"Calm down, Anna. He's bluffing."

"God, I'm tired of this." Zoe said, rolling over on the bed.

Zoe wasn't lying, she was tired. So tired, that she fell asleep mid-conversation.

* * *

 **An: Sorry for the boring chapter 9.**

 **I'm leading up to another big thing.**

 **Also, why was Zoe shaking and puking?**

 **Idk….**

 **Also, in respond to:** **Halebxxx**

 **My favorite Pll couple is Spoby, even though season 5 and 6A kinda destroyed them, I STILL HAVE HOPE!**

 **And also…..**

 **YES I SAW THAT NEW PROMO IT'S SO GOOD! SPENCER AND CALEB AHHHHHH…..**

 **Okay, I'm fine.**

 **Anyways, please review, favorite follow and all that good stuff.**

 **Thanks, I love you all.**

 **-Jessica**


	11. Where the snAke's like to hide

**AN: Hello! How are you all? I don't really have that much to say other than to enjoy and to review. I get so happy when I see a new notification. Even if it is only one sentence, I still get very excited.**

 **No new followers and favoriters.**

 **But…. I got a review from a guest saying that my story was their favorite fanfiction they have ever read and that I am an amazing writer.**

 **Thank you so much that made my day! I wasn't going to update today but this review made me happy so I decided I would update today.**

 **I really wish you guys would leave your names so I could shout you out; you all make me sooooo happy!**

 **P.s This chapter takes place on the same night as the last chapter ended.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pll.**

* * *

Kara didn't know what to do.

Right now was the first time in a while that Kara and her friends were generally happy. Kara could assume Zoe was, even though she had puked and was asleep, but she had a smile on her sleeping face so Kara took this as her being happy.

Kara was debating if she should tell her friends what Mrs. Cavanaugh had said to Kara when they were in the hospital.

Kara thought back to what Spencer had said:

" _The game started out as one girl threatening us through texts. They pretended to be Alison, long story short, Alison was missing for many years and we all thought she was dead, but she was actually hiding from our stalker. We all kinda brushed it off, but then the attacks got serious, and we eventually found the girl. Mona Vanderwaal. After she was sent to Radley, we thought the attacks would stop. But somebody else took the game. They attacked us for many more years, and they were a lot more violent than Mona. After being freaking kidnapped we figured out who it was. It was Alison's transgender sister who wanted revenge on us."_

She had to tell her friends, but she didn't want to ruin this moment.

But then again, Kara didn't know when they would all be together again.

Kara stared at her friends.

Anna was laughing at something Rose had said, and Rose had a smile on her face because of it. Kara didn't know what, she had tuned them out.

Now was not a good time.

There was _never_ going to be a good time.

"He wanted to show me his parking tickets!" Rose was saying.

"Really? That's so-"

Kara interrupted Anna.

"-Guys I need to tell you something."

They stopped talking and looked at Kara.

"What?" Anna asked.

"I talked to your mom, Anna, and… and."

Kara looked around the room and her eyes rested on Zoe.

Zoe's moms had gone through the torture too; she had to be awake also.

"We have to wake up Zoe." Kara said, looking back to her friends.

"She just fell asleep, Kara. I think we should let her, she has been through so much." Rose said in Zoe's defense.

"Yea, well we four aren't the only ones who have been dealing with things. I don't want to have to say it twice so can we please just wake her up?" Kara said, angered.

Anna looked at Kara. She knew Kara so well, they were probably the closest, and Anna nodded her head. She could most likely see the worry in her face.

Anna nudged Zoe with her foot, quietly saying, "Zoe. Zoe, wake up."

After a few tries, Zoe awoke.

"What-"

"Zoe, I have to tell you all something."

Zoe sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Okay, what is it?"

Kara took a deep breath and explained to her friends,

"When Anna was in the hospital and everyone was gone, I was left alone with your mom, Anna. She was upset so I tried to comfort her, but I got some information. It turns out that… we aren't A's first targets."

The girls looked confused.

"What does that mean?" Zoe asked.

"It means that our parents were attacked by A too. They focused on our mom's the most and they went through the same stuff that we have gone through, but much worse. Mrs. Cavanaugh told me that they were kidnapped by A, and tortured. It even went as far as one of them faking their death to get away."

"Who? Who would lie like that?" Zoe asked, astonished.

"Your mom, Zoe. Alison."

You could see the light in Zoe's face drain.

"Oh, my god." Rose whispered. "They didn't tell us about this."

"I think that they didn't want us to know because it's a pretty big thing to grasp. They were also probably scared that it would happen to us." Kara said, trying to defend the parents.

"Is it the same A?" Anna asked.

Kara shook her head. "I don't think so." She looked at Rose.

"It started off as a game. It started off with your aunt, Rose. Mona was the original A. I don't know why, Mrs. Cavanaugh didn't say that, but they eventually caught her. Then somebody else took the game. Her name was Cece Drake. I had to find that out by myself. She was a transgender who was sent to Radley when she was young for trying to drown her sister."

Rose shook her head. "Kara, stop. Mona couldn't have tried to kill our parents. She wouldn't do that!"

"I did the research, Rose. Everything that Anna's mom told me was true."

Rose let out a breath of sharp air, her eyes began to water.

Kara looked at Zoe, about to tell her more bad news.

"Zoe, Cece was your aunt. She was Alison's sister, but Ali didn't know until the group found out she was A."

Zoe opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when nothing came out.

"Zoe…" Kara said, grabbing her hand.

Zoe ripped her hand from Kara's.

"So now I have two missing family members! First, my dad and now, a long-lost crazy psychopath aunt who tried to kill all of our parents!"

"Zoe, calm down. This sucks but we can get through it. This information could help us find out who A is. They are most likely related to Cece or someone. Anyone who knew about the game."

Zoe shook her head, "Great. Another psycho relative that I don't know about."

"Should we tell our parents about A? They defeated theirs, maybe they could help us find ours." Anna said.

She had a point. But Kara was sure that involving their parents would put them in danger too. Kara didn't know about her friends, but she knew that she would _not_ let her parents get hurt.

"I don't know. My brain hurts to much right now to think anymore." Rose said for all the girls.

Kara felt immense pain for all the girls. She had just dropped a bomb on them.

All of them looked like they had had a piece of their soul ripped from them.

Kara stood up. She figured that she would leave them all alone for a few minutes. They were all having mixed emotions towards Kara.

Kara went down the stairs and paced the kitchen. She started to get a massive headache.

Kara opened up the door and stepped outside. She needed some fresh air.

Kara stood on Anna's porch, staring at nothing in particular, when she heard something bang of in the distance.

It sounded like a trash can being knocked over.

Kara drew her attention over to the trash can and tried to see what was over there.

Then she saw it.

A person in all black.

Kara had never seen A before, but at the sight of this figure, all the hairs on Kara's neck stood up.

The figure stood there. Kara didn't know what to do. Should she go get her friends? Should she just leave it alone?

Kara decided on getting her friends.

Kara turned around, but was quickly stopped. Another hooded figure was behind Kara.

There were two!

As Kara was about to scream, a black bag was placed over her head.

* * *

Anna sat on her bed with her friends. She was still taking in all the information Kara had just told her.

All the girl's parents had defeated A. They were all survivors!

It was really silent, which was weird. Where was Kara?

"Where's Kara?" Anna asked.

The girls looked around.

"I don't know, maybe she went to the bathroom or something." Rose said after making a quick scan across the room.

Anna noticed a light come from her window. Kara must have been outside.

Anna stood up and walked over to her window. She peeped through the blinds and saw no Kara, but a car in her driveway.

"Guys, I think someone is here." Anna said, walking over to her friends.

"It is your parents?" Zoe asked, concerned.

"No, it's not their car."

Just then, Anna's phone buzzed.

Anna tensed up. Who would be texting her at 12:43 at night?

Anna hoped it wasn't A. Then Anna remembered the text the group had gotten earlier that night.

Anna looked down at her phone:

 _ **Knock-knock.**_

 _ **-A**_

Then, there was a knock at the door.

Anna tensed up and dropped her phone.

"Anna? What's wrong? Who's at the door? " Rose said, standing up when she heard the phone drop.

Anna let out a shaky breath.

"A."

"What? Oh my god, where is Kara?" Zoe said, as she ran to the bathroom, and quickly ran back.

"She isn't in the bathroom."

"Where is she?'" Rose said, putting her hands on her head.

"KARA!" Zoe called out.

"Zoe, be quite, A could be outside." Anna whispered.

It was silent.

The girls all jumped at the sound of the doorbell.

"Maybe they will go away." Rose whispered.

Anna gave Rose a look that said, "Really? It's A."

Anna walked over to her closet and pulled out a bat.

"Why do you have a bat in your closet?" Zoe asked in amazement.

"I was drugged and sliced up by A, and you question why I have a bat."

Anna looked at her friends and nodded her head towards the stairs.

"We have to answer it." Anna said. "Quietly." She added.

Anna made her way down the stairs, with her friends close by.

Halfway down the stairs, Anna noticed the doorknob jiggling.

Anna stopped mid-step and she almost fell down the stairs.

She really didn't want to do this, but she had to.

A could have Kara.

Without saying a word, the girls came up with a plan. With a series of looks, the girls knew exactly what they were going to do.

Zoe would open the door, Rose would tackle A, and Anna would beat him with a bat.

Anna gripped her bat and gave a nod to Zoe, signaling for her to open the door.

It all went down so fast.

Zoe opened the door, and before it was fully open, Rose jumped on "A."

Anna ran up to the victim and held the bat above them.

"ANNA, STOP!"

She was a foot above his stomach when Anna stopped the bat.

"Dylan, what the hell?"

The girls backed away and let Dylan inside.

"I was driving by and saw that your light was on so I decided that I would check in."

Anna stared at Dylan with an intense look.

"I could have bashed your skull in, why didn't you text?" Anna said, dropping the bat.

"I didn't think of it, I was worried something was wrong since nobody was answering and I know that you can't leave the house."

"I'm sorry." He added.

Anna shook her head.

"You're such an idiot."

"I know." Dylan replied with a chuckle.

"Okay, I hate to ruin your moment, but did you see Kara anywhere?" Rose butted in.

Dylan shook his head. "No."

"Where is she?" Anna muttered, walking over to a window to look out.

She looked in her backyard.

Not much was there; only an old swing set and a shed. There was also many snakes that lived in Anna's backyard.

Anna remembered this one time that she wanted to get her bike from the shed when she was fourteen. Anna was about to pull her bike out when something caught her leg. She looked down to see an Eastern Milk snake wrapped around her leg. It wasn't venomous, but Anna still screamed. Her dad eventually heard her scream and ripped the snake from her leg. He ran out to the woods and dropped the snake out there. Ever since then, Anna rarely ever went out to the shed.

"We have to go find her." Zoe said from behind Anna.

"Do you want me to help?" Dylan asked.

Anna thought about this. Kara's disappearance most likely had something to do with A. If… no, _when_ the group found Kara, they would have to do some serious explaining to Dylan. Did Anna want to risk that?

What was she thinking? Anna loved Kara. She knew exactly what Kara was going through and there was no way that Anna was going to leave her.

"Yeah, please." Anna said to Dylan.

"Should we start in the backyard?"

Anna nodded her head. She grabbed flashlights for everybody and grabbed her bat.

Anna made Dylan go first.

"Why, you have the bat?" He asked when Anna made him go.

"Because, you're the man." Was Anna's response.

Now outside, Anna kept her flashlight on the ground, watching out for snakes.

All the girls phoned vibrated for the second time tonight.

 _ **This is where the snakes like to hide; this is where a bitch will soon die.**_

 _ **-A**_

"A riddle?" Zoe asked, looking down at her phone.

"I suck at riddles." Rose added.

"A?" Dylan asked, looking over Anna's shoulder.

Anna didn't answer, she was too busy thinking.

Anna remember the snake incident when she was fourteen.

"The shed."

Anna flashed her flashlight to the shed and screamed.

At the door was A, locking the door.

Dylan didn't know what was going on.

"Hey!" He yelled at A. "Get away from there."

Dylan then ran over there and tackled A.

Dylan was hitting A over and over again.

Things quickly switched and A was on top of Dylan.

"DYLAN!" Anna yelled, running over to him.

A looked up at Anna. She raised her bat.

Rose and Zoe ran too and were now behind Anna.

"Get out of here asshole!" Rose yelled, flicking A off.

A gave one hard punch to Dylan and then got up and ran.

Anna knelt down next to Dylan with great concern.

He was bleeding.

"Dylan? Dylan are you okay?"

He looked up at Anna. "I'm fine, go get Kara."

Anna nodded and stood up.

Anna prayed that it wasn't locked. Anna grabbed the sheds handled and opened the doors. Good, they weren't locked.

Anna flashed her light into the shed.

What Anna saw was an absolute horror. Behind her, one of the other girls screamed.

Kara lay on the ground, tied up and gagged. She was crying, but her eyes widened when she saw her friends.

Around Kara were at least five snakes. Five rattlesnakes.

In case you all don't know, rattle snaked are poisonous.

Anna gripped her bat tight and stated swinging. She wasn't killing them, she just simply flung them aside. When they were all to the left of the shed Anna yelled,

"Zoe, untie Kara and get her inside the house. Rose, help Zoe and then get Dylan. I'll get the snakes."

The girls followed direction.

The snaked all lunged at Anna, but she didn't miss one. She kicked and swat and swung until she heard Zoe scream,

"Anna, were all inside!"

Anna gave one last swing and ran out the shed. She closed and locked the doors and ran until she was in the house.

Kara was sitting on the couch, dirty and scared.

"Where you bit?"

Kara shook her head. "No, you got here just in time."

Anna sighed a sigh of relief and ran up to Kara and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Kara! I'm sorry we left you alone." Anna cried into Kara's hair.

"Don't say that, I shouldn't have left." Kara said as she hugged back.

Slowly, all four girls were embracing each other.

Anna broke from the group when she heard her fridge open.

It was Dylan grabbing an ice pack for his face.

Anna had completely forgotten about him.

She ran over to Dylan and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the best!" Anna said to his chest.

Dylan hugged her back. "Anything for you and your friends."

Anna and Dylan stayed like this for a few minutes until Dylan asked the question.

"Whose A?"

Anna broke from him and looked at her friends.

They all nodded their heads.

"Sit down." Anna said, pointing to a couch.

For the next hour, even though they were all exhausted, all four girls explained to Dylan who A was.

"…and tonight, he kidnapped Kara and threw her in a shed full of snakes, and it is only going to get worse." Anna finished.

Dylan wasn't crying, but his eyes did water.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea, if I had known I would never have left your side since the park!" Dylan said, grabbing Anna's hand.

Anna squeezed Dylan's hand and looked him in the eyes.

"I know that that's true, but don't worry about us. I think we all proved to ourselves that we are strong against A. We defeated him and he didn't even leave a scratch on Kara." Anna smiled at the last sentence. All the girls did.

"Do you really want me to stay out of it?" He asked.

Anna nodded her head. "It's just one guy, we can handle it. Besides, if we need you to come save the day, I'll call you."

He smiled.

"Yea, about that…" Kara cut in.

They all looked at her.

"There are two of them."

* * *

 **AN: So there was a short little chapter for y'all. It is barley over 3,000 words.**

 **Also, this chapter might have been small, but there was** _ **a lot**_ **of A clues. So read it over and see if you can catch them.**

 **Also, please pray for the people of Paris, they were just attacked by ISIS.**

 **Thanks, I love you all.**

 **Please review.**

 **-Jessica**


	12. Exposed

**AN: I love you guys! 3 Last chapter, you were all very active.**

 **Shout out to Abbiexxx. She was the one who convinced me to update so fast for the last chapter.**

 **There was also this one guest who kept reviewing over and over again as they read. I want to thank whoever that was, your reviews made my day.**

 **In response to Halebxxx, there is going to always be Haleb. I try to give them as much moments as I can but remember. This is a story about the liar's children, not the parents so they may not be in every chapter. But when they are, I make them as cute as possible.**

 **We have one new follower/favoriter:**

 **Nat3314**

 **Welcome!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pll.**

 **Pray for Paris**

* * *

Kara was still shaken up from last night. She wanted nothing more than to just stay in her bed and not get up, but she had to.

She had a job to get to.

Kara had left Anna's house pretty early. Everyone was still asleep when Kara woke up, so she walked over to each girl and woke them up one by one to say goodbye to all of them separately. They all thought that Kara should just stay there and not go to work, but Kara had been putting work aside for a week now and she wanted to prove to her parents that she wasn't a kid anymore.

Kara also knew that canceling work again would spark some questions in Owen, and Kara didn't want to tell Owen about A yet.

Kara, now standing in the mirror adjusted her apron that had her name sewn one it. Her shift started from 12 to 5 in the afternoon. It was 11:33.

She walked down stairs to eat something before she left. Her parents were in the kitchen discussing something.

Please note, that both Hanna and Caleb have one job, so they were home a lot more often.

"Hey." Kara said to them opening the fridge.

"You have work today?" Hanna asked getting up and walking over to Kara.

Caleb soon followed his wife's lead.

"Yea, I figured if postponed it even longer, I would never actually go."

"What time is your shift?" Hanna asked.

Kara grabbed a banana and answered, "I work from 12 to 5."

Caleb looked at the clock, "You still have a half hour till you're shift, why are you ready so early?"

"She probably wants to go see Owen." Hanna said, walking back over to the couch.

Kara blushed, this was true. Kara got ready really early so she _could_ see Owen.

"No!" Kara lied.

Kara's parents looked at each other and smiled.

"Sure." Hanna said, trying to hold in her laugh.

"I am leaving early because it will make an impression!" Kara said in her defense.

"Kara, we get it. Go to work, go see Owen." Caleb said, grabbing his daughter's shoulders.

Unlike most teenagers, Kara told her parents that she and Owen had kissed the night it happened. They knew about the Kowen relationship.

Kara smiled at her dad. "Kay, thanks."

She released herself from her dad's shoulders and grabbed her keys.

Kara finished her banana in her car in the brew's parking lot.

Kara walked confidently into the brew and found Owen wiping a table.

She walked over and said hi. "Owen, Hi." Kara said to him.

He looked up at her, "Oh, hey." He then went back to scrubbing the table.

Kara grabbed the washcloth from his hand angrily.

"Hey!" Owen yelled, trying to get it back.

"I wasn't expecting a poem to be written about your love for me or anything, but I kinda was expecting a good morning kiss or something! At least more than a 'Oh, hey.' You didn't even smile at me!"

Owen grabbed Kara's hand and took behind the counter.

"Yes, I could have smiled, but today has kinda been bad for me. And, Kara, we can't kiss or anything here. Not while we work." Owen explained.

Okay, Kara could understand this.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have gone off on you, I'm just kinda nervous."

Owen grabbed Kara's hand and smiled. "Don't be nervous. What you're doing today is easy."

"Yea, what am I doing today?" Kara asked. She was never told.

"You're going to be my little waitress. I'll make the drinks, the food, whatever the costumer wants, and then I'll give it to you to serve to them."

Kara nodded her head. "I can do that."

Just then the bell on the door rung, signaling a costumer.

"You ready?" Owen asked.

Kara put on a large smile and said, "Absolutely."

The woman walked up to the counter and placed her order.

The woman then sat down at a table and pulled out a laptop and began to type.

Kara bobbed up and down, waiting for Owen to finish the drink.

"Are you done yet?" Kara asked.

"No." he said, grabbing the whip cream.

"How about now?"

"No, Kara." Owen said, grabbing the caramel.

Kara waited until Owen finished the caramel drizzle. "Okay, now?"

Owen put the lid on the cup and handed it to Kara. "Yes. You remember who ordered this?"

Kara pointed back over to the women and said, "Yup."

"Good. It's important to remember what the customer looks like. It's embarrassing when you give someone the wrong drink."

"It won't happen." Kara said putting a smile on her face and making her way over to the women.

When Kara reached the women, she placed the coffee on the table and said a polite, "Here you go."

The woman grabbed the coffee, thanked Kara, and took a sip.

Kara, satisfied, walked back to Owen.

"Did it go well?" He asked.

"I think so." Kara said, picking at her apron.

"You did well, Kara. As long as you don't spill the coffee on them, you're doing fantastic."

Kara smiled at Owen and looked around the brew. Nobody else walked in.

"What can I do?" Kara asked, turning back around.

"The only thing you've been assigned to do today is to pass out drinks and food, so…" Owen said looking around.

"There's nothing?" Kara pouted.

"You could go around and ask people if they need re-fills. But if not, you can just hang around. You're going to be here for a while so you should find something to do."

"Okay, yeah. I'll do that." Kara said, turning around.

Kara walked around the tables until she saw an empty cup.

"You need a re-fil?" Kara asked politely.

"Yes please." The man said without looking up. Kara recognized the voice and looked at the man.

"Zak?"

He looked up from his laptop and saw Kara. He quickly slammed it closed.

"Kara?" Zak asked in amazement.

Kara took the seat across from him as he asked, "You work here?"

"First day." Kara said smiling.

"Congratulations, Kara." Zak said to Kara.

Kara noticed a bruise on Zak's arm. She pointed at it. "When did you get that?"

Zak looked down at his arm and his face turned bright red. "Nothing important."

Kara gave Zak a strong look.

"Okay, well it happened when I was trying to set something up for Rose."

Kara then remembered how Rose had told her friends that she was going to go over to Zak's apartment sometime this week.

"Is she coming over tonight?" Kara asked.

Zak nodded his head. "Yes. I'm trying to make it special for her."

Kara is now going into mommy mode.

"What time is she coming over?" Kara asked strictly.

"Eight." Zak stared back at her confidently.

"Will you be serving any food?"

"I'm getting pizza at nine."

"Okay, great. What were you setting up that you got a bruise for?"

"It's a surprise." Zak said, raising his eyebrows.

"I need to know that you're not trying to do anything stupid, so just tell me."

"Kara. I don't know if you remember, but we have met before and I know who you are. Rose has told me about you and I know how big of a blabbermouth you can be. I really want this to be a secret so please, stop wondering."

"Ouch." Was all Kara said.

"Sorry, but I care about tonight and I want you to respect my privacy."

Kara leaned forward. "One more question."

"Kara-"

"One...More... Question."

Zak took a breath. "What?"

"Are you going to have sex with Rose?"

Zak's jaw dropped. "No!"

"Are you just saying that?"

"Kara, stop. I care about Rose I wouldn't do that to her."

Kara smiled. "Good."

She grabbed Zak's coffee cup and stood up. "I'll be back with your coffee."

Kara walked back to Owen and handed him the cup. "Re-fil."

Owen grabbed the cup and got to work on the drink. "You know him?"

Kara looked back over to Zak. "Yea, I know him."

"How?"

"I've spied on him and stuff like that."

"Kara! What?"

Kara looked at Owen. She started to laugh. "He's dating Rose, Owen!"

"Why did you spy on him?" Owen asked, looking Kara in the eyes.

"I caught him and Rose kissing out in the road and you should know, Owen, I'm super protective!"

Owen grabbed a lid and placed it on the coffee cup. "Kara, give it up. He is dating Rose. She trusts him enough so don't pressure him to tell you personal things about _their_ relationship."

"I just don't want Rose to get hurt! We've all been through so, a broken heart doesn't need to be thrown into it."

"What's so bad that you've been through?" Owen asked concerned.

Kara grabbed the drink from Owen and said, "Stuff."

She quickly walked away and ignored Owen calling out to her. Kara slammed the coffee down on Zak's table said, "Here you go, sorry for budging." Then walked away to another table.

She spent the rest of her shift ignoring Owen. She wasn't going to tell Owen about A, about how just that night, she was attacked by A. She would tell him another time.

But not today.

* * *

Zoe lay in her bed and stared at the celling. She felt terrible. Zoe wanted to lie in her bed forever, but Zoe had to get up soon or her parents would start to question her.

Zoe sat up and put a hand to her head. It was hot.

Zoe looked at her wrists. They were tender.

Zoe had already cut her wrists today. She wondered if she should do it again, but she already felt enough pain. Her body was constantly telling her she was alive when she threw up every hour.

Zoe had no idea what was wrong with her. She figured she was sick or something, but she _needed_ to get better. Her puking made Zoe frightened.

It wasn't only puking that was upsetting Zoe. She was always tired and dizzy.

Zoe didn't even want to tell her friends, they would be ten times more worried about her. Zoe _especially_ would not tell her parents.

Zoe took a deep breath and started to go down the stairs. She heard them talking, but Zoe couldn't make out the words.

Zoe walked into the kitchen to see a batch of cookies. Zoe gladly took a few cookies and sat down.

She took a bite into the chocolate chip cookie and looked at a picture of her parents on the wall.

It was taken a few years before Zoe was born. It was a picture of Emily and Alison in front of the Eiffel Tower. They had always dreamed of going to Paris, and they finally went. Zoe was upset that they had never gone with her, but she didn't push it.

Zoe looked at their smiling faces. They had recovered from their attacks from A.

How did they do it? How long did it last?

It had only been a few months so far since Zoe, Anna, Kara and Rose had started to get attacks from A and Zoe was already ready to give up.

Zoe's phone buzzed.

 _ **So you told your friends about Daniel**_. _**Good job, Zoe. You did what you were told, so here is your reward.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was an image attached to the text.

Zoe knew what the picture was going to be. It would be a picture of her dad.

Should she open it? Should she tell her parents about it first? Should Zoe open it and lie to her parents that she found out by herself?

Zoe pounded her fist down on the table in anger.

"Zoe?" Alison yelled from the other room.

"I'm in the kitchen, mom." Zoe responded, looking down.

She didn't want to speak to her moms, but she had to.

Alison walked in. Just Alison.

"Where's mom?" Zoe asked when Alison walked in. Her two moms where usually always together. Zoe would guess this was so since she now knew that they were separated for years when they were teens, but seeing them apart was weird.

"She's at the store." Alison said, sitting down next to her daughter.

Zoe put down her cookie. "Who were you talking to?"

Alison's eyes widened. "I didn't think you heard them."

"Mom?"

Zoe's eyes started to water. Who would Alison be talking to that she would keep a secret.

"Mom, please don't!" Zoe said grabbing her Alison's hand.

"Zoe. Zoe, calm down. I'm not doing anything I'm not supposed to be doing." Alison said, calming her daughter down.

Zoe let out a breath of relief. "You're not cheating?"

"No."

Zoe shook her head. "Then who were you talking to?"

Alison looked down and said in whispered, "Your dad."

Zoe's heart dropped. "What?"

"He came a few hours ago but you were in your room and I didn't want to disturb you so I let you be."

Zoe stood up. "That is _not_ an excuse! In that room in my _father!_ I have his blood in my veins. He is related to me. Unlike you, Alison! You aren't even my real mom; you have no right to keep this from me! You should have gotten me as soon as he walked in this door! Were you ever going to tell me?"

Alison had tears in her eyes. Zoe had flat out said that Alison was not her mother. It was an obvious fact but it was still hurtful.

"I was going to get you after your dad and I talked. You might not think we know, but your mom and I _know_ something is up, and throwing this bomb on you would not be healthy, so give me a break for caring!" Alison yelled, defending herself.

Zoe stared at her mom, emotionless. Alison stared right back. Zoe had learned this skill from her. You pretend that you have no care in the world; even if you feel like you have a thousand knives being stabbed into your heart, don't show it.

It was only a matter of time until one of them broke.

"Do I get to see him?" Zoe said through gritted teeth.

Alison pointed to the main room. "He's in there. Don't freak out, no matter how weird it might be."

Zoe wouldn't freak out.

She walked past Alison and headed to the next room.

Zoe was almost there. After seventeen years Zoe was finally going to meet her dad. According to A, Zoe had already met her dad, but this was the first time Zoe would be addressing him as "dad."

Zoe walked into the room and saw him sitting on the couch.

"You shouldn't talk to her like that."

Zoe almost collapsed, but she used her skill.

"She was disrespectful." Zoe said emotionless.

Jason patted the couch next to him. Zoe walked over to another chair and sat there.

Zoe stared at him. Jason was Zoe's dad? She wanted to burst out in tears, this was her _dad_! Not her uncle.

"How?" Zoe asked.

"I wondered that myself." Jason replied.

"You obviously did something because I'm sitting on this couch, so _spill it_!" Zoe said through gritted teeth.

She was angry. How long has he known?

"I found out today, Zoe. I got a letter in the mail with the DNA results proving it. I had _never_ done anything with Emily so I had no idea how this could have happened. Emily mentioned that she went to a sperm donor, so I went to the doctor to see how Emily could have possibly have gotten mine."

Zoe stared, still emotionless. She thought that Jason being her dad was disgusting. The fact that Alison was Zoe's "mom" and how Jason was Zoe's biological father, and how they are related, was just a weird fact.

"Continue." Said Zoe's shaking voice.

"I went there when I was a teen. I had this period in my life when it was dark. I hated my life and all I did was get drunk and high. Everyday there was a different reason too, but there was always something. I guess one day I was sad that nobody loved me and I decided that a baby would always find a way to love me. I donated the sperm under the fake name on my fake I.D. I forgot about it after an hour of donating. Somehow, my sample was used for you, which is one of the strangest things I have ever heard, but I'm so happy. Because of a huge mistake, you're here."

This was the dumbest thing Zoe had ever heard in her life.

She shot up from her seat when he finished. "You are so _stupid,_ Jason! What the hell were you thinking!?" She put her head in her hands and started to sob.

Jason got up to comfort his new-found daughter.

When their skin made contact, Zoe pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" she warned.

Jason, smartly, backed off.

Alison and Emily walked into the room once it was silent.

"Zoe?" Emily said in a soft voice.

Zoe grabbed a pillow and threw it at Emily. "HOW LONG HAVE _YOU_ KNOWN?"

Emily kicked the pillow aside and walked up to her daughter, but she didn't touch her "I found out just now that it was Jason, but I've known the fake name ever since you were born. I wanted you to be Alison and I's without any complications so I picked the sample that had the least amount of information. It was selfish of me, I grew up barley seeing my dad and I know how it feels not really having a dad so I should have known not to pick Jason's but I was scared."

Zoe took a step back. "Well, congratulations. You succeeded with not giving me a dad."

"I've been trying for years to find him! There was no record of Jason when I looked. He used a fake name!"

"And you never thought to bring it up?"

Emily said nothing.

Zoe looked at Alison.

"I guess we are kinda related. This means that I'm related to Anna somehow to. Wow, two new family members in one day." Zoe's voice cracked on the last word and she ran out of the room and up the stairs.

She headed for her room.

Zoe was sweating, shaking, and crying. Zoe closed the door to her room and stared at herself in the mirror. She could see Jason in her that Zoe always swished was Alison. Ever since Zoe was young, she prayed that there was some possible way that Zoe had no biological dad, but to biological moms. Zoe thought that she spent four and a half months inside each one of her mothers, that they took turns, but then Zoe grew up and realized that that could never be true.

But Zoe had always secretly hoped that it was.

Zoe, still shaking looked at herself, all of her.

She was caught up in her thoughts when she passed out.

* * *

Anna was so bored.

She couldn't leave the house and she didn't want to ask her friends over because she was scared another bad thing would happen.

So Anna sat on the couch, watching the wall. Of course, nothing happened.

Anna picked up her phone. There were no new messages.

"Ugh." Anna groaned as she laid back and let the couch touch her back.

Anna was home alone. Her parents were out working and her brother was at school.

There was nothing Anna could do.

Her stomach growled. Finally, something Anna could do.

Anna got up and walked over the kitchen. She opened the fridge door to see absolutely nothing. Yes, it was full of food, but nothing good.

"Oh, come on!" Anna said under her breath. Her stomach growled again.

Anna looked outside. Nobody was out there. Maybe she could just go and get some fast food and nobody would know she was gone.

Anna went to her room and grabbed her keys. She then went back downstairs and put on a pair of boots and walked over the garage. She stopped when she heard the front door open.

Anna stopped mid-step. She tip toed until she was behind the wall that the facing the front door. She turned around and peeked over the edge to see who it was.

It was Brendon.

Anna stepped out from behind the wall and said, "Brendon, what the heck are you doing here?"

It was still early in the morning and he should be at school. Brendon jumped when he heard his name.

"Oh, my god, Anna! You scared me!" He said, holding a hand to his heart.

"Yea, well, you scared me to when you opened the front door. What are you doing here?"

Brendon opened the fridge and closed it right away. "I didn't want to be at school."

Anna grabbed his arm and forced Brendon to look at her.

"You skipped?" Anna asked in a serious tone.

"Yea." He said, ripping his arm away from Anna.

"Brendon, you aren't going anywhere." Anna pointed at the couch. "Sit."

Brendon rolled his eyes and sat down. Anna sat down next to him.

"You can's skip school." Anna warned. "What would you do if mom and dad were home? They would be even angrier than me!"

"I didn't think anyone else was home! I forgot that you had to get your back sliced up and stayed home, okay. I knew mom and dad wouldn't have been home because I know there work schedules. I do this all the time, Anna, so stop worrying."

"Brendon, you can't skip school for no reason. Soon enough, your grades will go down and mom and dad will start to notice and you need to stop." Anna said, looking Brendon in the eyes.

"I have a reason." He said.

"What?" Anna questioned.

"I feel stupid when I'm there! I can never understand anything but the teachers just tell me to study harder, when all I do is study! I don't know what's wrong with me and I hate it so I come home to escape the fact that I'm stupid."

Anna didn't know what to say. Eventually she came up with, "Brendon, you are _not_ stupid."

"Yes I am."

"You just need a tutor! You don't understand some things and that's okay, we can fix it."

"I have been seeing a tutor! That's where I was last night. That's where I am every night when I say I'm going out with my friends! Nothing is working."

Anna grabbed her brother's hand. "Don't worry about. There is nothing wrong with you. Just go up to your room and don't worry, I won't tell mom and dad that you skipped."

Anna sent a soft smile to Brendon.

He replied with a hug to Anna.

"I'm sorry I'm so mean to you." Brendon said into Anna's shoulder.

Anna squeezed back and said, "How are you mean to me?"

"Did you forget how I teased you for when you had that B- in English, and I said that I had all A's. I lied, I was getting terrible grades and I was just trying to make myself feel better."

Anna laughed and pulled away. "Is that was that was about?"

He laughed back, "Yea."

"You're forgiven." Anna said with a smile.

Brendon smiled back and walked up to his room.

Anna was still hungry so she decided she would get food for her and her brother.

She dug in the drawers until she found the menu for a local pizza place.

Anna dialed then number and it rung.

Anna dropped the phone when a loud buzzing sound came out of the phone. It almost sounded like a scream.

Anna hung up the phone and looked at the menu.

Anna felt stupid after she read the title.

"Little LiArs Pizza."

* * *

Rose had just hung up the phone confirming with Zak that she would be at his house at eight.

She took a breath in, then out. Rose didn't care if she had school tomorrow; she wanted to be with Zak.

It was 12:18. That's it?

Rose wanted time to go by faster. She thought of things she could do to pass the time.

Rose decided to take a shower. When she got out it was 12:30.

After blow-drying her hair, re-applying her makeup, and getting dresses it was about 1:00.

Rose threw her head back and groaned. She was already out of ideas.

Rose walked downstairs to get food and saw her dad sitting on the couch.

"Why aren't you at work?" Rose asked.

He jumped at the sound of Rose's voice and responded, "I took the day of so I could watch after you."

Rose sat next to him and rolled her eyes. "Dad, I'm seventeen."

"I know, I just worry."

Rose knew what he was worried about. After what Kara had told the group about how their parents had gone through the exact same thing, he could only be worrying about A.

"Dad, for the last time, nobody is targeting me."

Ezra looked at Rose, confused. "How do you know that that was what I was worried about?"

"That's what everyone seems to be worrying about." Rose said, standing up.

He didn't say anything. In the silence, Rose's stomach growled.

"Are you hungry," Ezra asked, "Do you want me to make you anything?"

Rose shook her head. She really wanted to get out of the house.

"No, I think I'm going to eat at the brew, I'm pretty sure it's Kara's first day working there and I want to surprise her."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Mr. Fitz asked.

"No, dad. I'm a big girl." Rose said, growing somewhat annoyed with her dad.

Ezra nodded and turned back to doing whatever he was doing.

Rose was about to walk to her car when she remembered that she was going to Zak's apartment tonight. Rose should at least tell her dad about it.

"Oh dad, by the way, I won't be home tonight."

"Why?"

"I'm spending the night at Kara's." Rose thought up quickly.

"I thought you said that you were going to school tomorrow."

"I am. Kara and I go to the same school; I'll get there just fine."

Ezra just nodded and turned away.

Rose then headed for her car, satisfied with her lie, and got in her car.

… _bzzz….bzzz…._

It was Rose's phone. She looked at the text:

 _ **I don't know what to call you, a bitch or a liar?**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose threw her phone in the backseat and drove to the brew.

* * *

When Rose walked into the brew, she saw Kara serving a drink to some old woman… with a frown.

Rose ran to an open seat and said, "Excuse me maim, can I get some service?"

"I'm sorry, but you have to order-'' Kara stopped mid-sentence when she saw Rose.

"Rose!" Kara yelled, and then sat down.

"Hey." Rose said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got hungry and I remembered that today was your first day here so I thought I would surprise you."

Kara looked down. "I wish you came in the first five minutes of my shift."

Rose grew confused. "Why?"

Kara opened her mouth, and then quickly closed her mouth.

"Nothing." Was her response.

"Okay, now you have to tell me."

Kara shook her head.

"Kara!" Rose tried to push it out of Kara.

"No." Kara responded, not looking at Rose.

"Okay, whatever. You need to smile though. Seeing you upset isn't a good first impression."

Kara looked at Rose and gave a small smile.

"Good. I want a cookie."

Kara looked at Rose funny. "Just a cookie?"

"Yes a cookie."

"What kind?"

"Chocolate chip."

Kara walked over to the front counter and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie.

"Thanks." Rose said, taking a bite from the cookie.

Kara sat down again.

"No!" Rose said, snapping her finger at Kara.

"What?" She said annoyed.

"If you're not going to tell me why you're upset, then you have to go and serve other people. Do your job."

Rose thought this for sure would get Kara to talk.

"Okay." Kara said, standing up and walking over to the main counter. She grabbed two drinks from Owen and brought it to a teenage couple. She then made rounds to all the customers and talked to them, all with a smile.

Rose finished her cookie with angry bites and walked over to Owen.

Rose and Owen had never met before, but Kara knew this was Owen from pictures Kara had sent her. Rose wasn't surprised when she walked up to him and asked, "What's wrong with Kara?"

Owen looked Rose with a questioning look, "Who are you?"

"Rose."

"Kara's friend Rose right?"

"How many Rose's would Kara know?"

Owen looked down. "Right."

"So, what's up with her?"

"I don't know?" He said.

"Come on, you're her boyfriend. She didn't tell you anything? She said the first five minutes of her shift were good, did she talk to anyone?"

Owen's face lit up as he remembered, then it dulled back down.

"Not you too." Rose said annoyed.

"I don't think you would want to know."

"Owen, I just want to know why Kara is so upset, I'm just trying to be a caring friend. Please tell me."

"I don't know if-"

"If you care about her you would tell me. I've known her longer than you and I would know how to cheer her up."

"She talked to Zak."

Rose was shocked. "Zak?"

He nodded.

"Why would she talk to Zak?"

"They were talking about you, Rose."

"Why wouldn't she tell me if she was talking about me?"

"Kara was being protective over you." Owen said, defending his girlfriend.

"What? How?"

"I don't know. She said that she didn't want him to break your heart because you all been through so much. She didn't tell me anything else. In fact, she's pretty much ignored me since then unless I'm giving her drinks or something.

Rose bit her cheek.

"Thanks, Owen," She said and walked away.

Rose walked up to Kara and grabbed her arm.

"I know that you love me, but I can take care of myself. You don't need to confront Zak."

Kara looked at Rose with a weird look.

"Owen." Rose said, reading Kara's face.

"That idiot." Kara said, looking at Owen.

Kara looked back at Rose. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to get hurt. I was just making sure he was worthy for you."

Rose laughed. "Thanks, Kara."

Kara smiled back at Rose.

"Keep that smile and go back to doing your job. I have to leave; go get ready for Zak." Rose demanded Kara.

"You're already dressed up nice, what else can you do?" Kara asked, looking Rose up and down.

"This is for when I arrive at his apartment, I still need to figure out what I'm wearing to bed." Rose said, winking at Kara.

"Every inch of your body better be covered!" Kara warned.

Rose turned toward the exit and started walking. "Okay, mom." She yelled at Kara.

Rose heard Kara laugh as she walked out the door.

* * *

 **AN: Here's chapter 11. Lots of stuff happened and I hope you al don't hate me for the Zoe/ Jason thing. I planned it from the beginning and It just now hit me how weird it is, but it is what it is and I can't change it.**

 **On the bright side, I got so many reviews on the last chapter!**

 **Reviews are my favorite thing to get so keep it up! : )**

 **ALSO DON'T FORGET TO WATCH THE PLL SPECIAL THIS TUESDAY I AM SO EXCITED!**

 **Love you all!**

 **-Jessica**


	13. ShAking

**AN: I cannot tell you how much fun I am having making this! I love you guys so much! Your reviews make me cry because I have people telling me "This is the best next generation story I have ever read." I still can't believe people are saying that! I started this story expecting absolutely** _ **no**_ **followers. It's been a little over a month and I have 20! Yea, that might not seem like a lot, but for a girl expecting nothing, having 20 followers feels like I have won a million dollars!**

 **Keep it up! 3**

 **Thanks MysticXHope and Oilcityandhalebforlife for following, welcome to the family.**

 **Nat3314 also favorited**

 **I love you all and enjoy chapter 12!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars**

* * *

Rose had just gotten home from the brew. It was now 2:00.

She still had six hours until she was going to go over to Zak's.

Rose rolled her eyes. Today was the longest day of her life.

Rose grabbed a bag and started to pack her necessities.

She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, and deodorant.

Now she had to find her pajamas. Should she go for something attractive, tank top and booty shorts, (Rose didn't own any lingerie) or should she go for comfy, sweatshirt and sweatpants. It was pretty much winter and Rose didn't want to be freezing, but she also didn't want to look like a slob for Zak.

Rose didn't know what to pick, so she decided that she would ask one of her friends.

Rose picked up her phone and called Anna.

She picked up after two rings.

"Hello?" Anna answered.

"Hey, I need your help with something, can you come over?"

There was a short pause of silence. "Rose, I can't leave the house, remember?"

Rose felt stupid. "Oh yeah, sorry."

Rose didn't want to ask Kara. She was still kinda mad at her for not telling Rose that Kara and Zak had talked about her.

Rose could ask Zoe, but Zoe had told the girls numerous times that she wanted to be left alone, so Rose respected that.

"You still there?" Anna asked on the other line.

"Yeah, sorry. Um…" Rose said, tapping her foot trying to think. "Can I come over?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Thanks, I'll be over in ten minutes." Rose said, hanging up the phone quickly afterwards.

Rose grabbed her two choices of pajamas and ran down the stairs.

"Where are you going now?" Ezra asked.

Rose had forgotten he was still home.

She felt no need to lie to him for this situation. "I'm going to Anna's. She's lonely." Well, Rose tweaked the truth.

"You were at her house last night." Ezra stated.

"She is home alone dad, I'm just going to keep her company for a few hours."

"Okay, I won't keep you any longer."

Rose walked to her car and threw the clothes in the backseat.

She looked at the clock:

2:46.

Ugh.

* * *

Rose pulled into Anna's driveway and got out of the car. She walked up to the front door with the pile of clothes in her hands.

She was about to knock when the door opened for her.

"Rose, what the heck are you holding?" Anna asked, stepping aside so Rose could walk in.

"This is what I need your help with." Rose answered, walking up the stairs to Anna's room.

Anna followed her up the stairs and opened the bedroom door for Rose.

Rose threw the clothes on Anna's bed and exhaled a big breath. The clothes were very heavy. Rose then lay down on the bed, on top of the clothes.

Anna's hands fell to her hips when she said, "Come on, Rose, I just made my bed."

Rose shot up and apologized.

"It's fine, what do you need help with?" Anna responded.

"You remember that I'm going to Zak's tonight right?"

Anna nodded her head.

"I don't know what I should wear for pajamas."

Anna pointed to the stack of clothes. "These are your choices?"

"Yeah."

Anna picked through the pile and separated the two different outfits.

She laughed. "Comfy or sexy? That's your two options?"

"Yea, I don't know what to do." Rose said, getting up to stand next to Anna.

"Well, you're not planning on doing anything nasty right?" Anna asked, making eye contact with Rose.

"No, that's illegal."

"Then go with the sweats." Anna said, nodding her head towards the outfit.

"Really? I don't want to look like a slob though. It's our first night together."

"Exactly. If you trust Zak enough to spend the night at his apartment, then you shouldn't worry about your appearance. If you're planning on making your relationship seriously, then he has to get used to the Rose with no makeup, no dresses and natural hair. So, go with the sweats. If you go with the tank top, Zak might get the wrong idea. Plus, you would be freezing." Anna said. She then walked over to her bed and threw the sweatshirt at Rose.

She caught it and looked at it. It was the Steelers sweatshirt that Zak had given Rose when they first met. Rose didn't even realize she grabbed it until now.

Rose just looked at it and thought of the first time they met.

She remembered how hot the coffee was and how kind and worried Zak was and Rose smiled at the memory. The smile faded away when she remembered the text Rose had gotten seconds before the incident.

 _ **I hope you like your coffee scorching hot.**_

 _ **-A**_

"Are you okay?" Anna asked.

Rose had forgetting she was still at Anna's house.

Rose nodded her head. "Yea. Zak gave me this sweatshirt the first time we met; he spilled coffee on me and gave me the sweatshirt to cover up the stain on my blouse."

Anna looked confused. "How come you look angry then?"

"Because A set it up."

"What?" Anna asked, still confused.

"I got a text seconds before he spilled the coffee on me that said, 'I hope you like your coffee scorching hot.' "

"That doesn't mean anything, Rose. A was probably at the brew and saw him walking towards you and sent you the text so it was guaranteed that he would run into you." Anna said, comforting Rose.

"How did A know what Zak had ordered?" Rose asked. She couldn't think of an explanation for that.

"How does A know many things? How did he know about you're secret with Jason's car, or the code to Kara's parents liquor safe and how did they know that I would turn right in the corn maze while everyone else turned left. A knowing what Zak ordered is just another mystery that we will never figure out."

Rose's eyes were watering. "God you always know what to say."

"I know." Anna said, hugging Rose.

A few sobs escaped Rose's mouth as Anna rubbed Rose's back.

Anna pulled Rose away and held her shoulders while she looked Rose in the eye. "Hey, don't cry. Yea, I might have said that Zak needed to see the real you, but you still need to make an impression, so don't mess up your makeup!"

Rose laughed and wiped her waterline to prevent her mascara from smudging.

"I love you." Rose said to Anna.

"I love you too." Anna replied, smiling at Rose

Rose sniffled and asked, "What time is it?"

Anna looked at her watch. "4:13. Why?"

"I have to be at Zak's at eight."

"We still have a few hours until you need to go so…" Anna said, looking around her room.

"We can either play chess or watch a movie." Anna said after her search.

"A movie." Rose said right away. Anna could beat anyone at chess.

"Okay, let's go find a good one." Anna said, leading Rose out of her room.

When searching through Anna's DVD rack, Rose pointed at _The Fault In Our Stars._

"No!" Anna said, hitting Rose's hand away from the movie.

"You can't watch a sad movie. You'll cry and mess up your make up."

"Your right, I forgot."

Anna turned her head back to the movies. She grabbed a movie and showed it to Rose.

"Shrek?" Rose asked, almost laughing.

"Yeah, come on I haven't seen it in forever!" Anna pleaded.

"Whatever put it in the player." Rose said sarcastically, standing up and sitting down on the couch.

"Yes!" Anna mumbled under her breath. She put the movie in the DVD player and turned to Rose.

"Do you mind if Brendon watches with us? He's had a bad day." Anna asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." Rose replied, grabbing a blanket to cover herself up with.

Anna ran to the stairs and yelled, "BRENDON, ROSE AND I ARE WATCHING SHREK IF YOU WANT TO WATCH WITH US!"

After a few seconds, Brendon screamed back, "YEAH, I'M COMING!"

Brendon was downstairs on the couch in a matter of minutes and the trio watched the movie, laughing at almost everything Donkey said.

* * *

Rose left Anna's house a half hour before eight.

She had never been to Zak's apartment before and she had no idea how to get there, so Rose figured that she should leave as soon as possible.

Rose stood in front of the mirror fixing her makeup when her mom walked in.

"Rose, it's almost eight, why are you putting on makeup if you're just going to Kara's?"

Rose finished her concealer and looked at her mom. "Can't I put makeup on for my own pleasure?"

Aria sat on Rose's bed. "Yea, you can. But, I know that you aren't putting on makeup for your own pleasure."

Rose tensed up. "Mom, stop. Can you get off my back for two seconds and stop accusing me of lying?"

"I can't 'accuse' you of lying if you actually are." Aria said with a smirk on her face.

Rose tightened her fist around her mascara. "I am _not_ lying about anything."

"Rose, you can tell me anything, I'm your mother."

Rose wanted nothing more than to turn around and scream at her mother and accuse her of lying. Aria never told Rose about A. Aria was a selfish liar and a hypocrite.

"Let go of the mascara and come here." Aria said.

Rose looked down. Her knuckles were white from gripping the mascara so hard. She let go.

Rose looked at her mom through the mirror. Aria's arms were open, awaiting Rose.

She walked over to the bed, slowly, and sat down.

Aria, with her arms still out, raised her eyebrows.

Rose gently leaned into her mother's arms. Aria quickly wrapped her arms around Rose and did not let go.

Rose just wanted to spill it. Ask her mother for help on how to defeat A. Rose wanted to ask questions.

But she didn't. Rose wouldn't betray her friends like that.

"Can you tell me where you're going now?" Aria whispered into Rose's ear.

Rose hesitated. She didn't know if her mother would let Rose go to Zak's.

"I'm spending the night at Zak's apartment." Rose admitted.

Aria didn't even loosen her grip. "Okay." Mrs. Fitz said.

Rose pulled away. "Is that it?"

"I can't tell you not to go. Well, I could but I won't. Just…don't do anything illegal. If you do, you will spend _years_ running from the cops, so don't. Don't do what I did."

Rose smiled and hugged her mom. "I won't, mom."

Aria hugged back. "I love you." She said softly.

"I love you too."

After a few minutes, Rose and her mom broke apart and Rose looked at the clock.

7:46

Rose shot up and looked at herself in the mirror one more time. She grabbed her bag and was about to dart out of her bedroom when Rose remembered that her mom was in the room. Aria had a confused look on her face.

"I have to be at Zak's at eight and I have no idea how to get there."

"Okay, get going. Your father sent me to figure out if you were lying about spending the night at Kara's, but I'll tell him that you weren't lying. If he found out he would freak out."

Rose hugged her mom again and gave a quick thank you. In a matter of minutes, Rose was in her car, programing Zak's address into her GPS.

* * *

8:06

Not too bad.

Rose knocked on Zak's door and he opened the door after only a few knocks.

"Hey." He said, leaning down for a quick kiss to Rose.

"Hey." Rose responded after the kiss.

Zak stepped aside and let Rose into the apartment. It was small, but not to small. It was perfect.

Rose noticed that the house was spotless.

"You didn't have to clean up for me." Rose said, setting her bag down on the couch.

"Just trying to make an impression."

Rose smiled. "Next time don't" She thought of what Anna said. "If you want to be in a serious relationship with me, then I want you to show me the real you. I don't want you to be different around me."

Zak put his hands on his hips. "Okay, who told you that?"

Rose held in a laugh. "Anna."

"Knew it." Zak said, wrapping his hands around Rose's hips.

Rose rested her head on Zak's chest. "I'm really happy I'm here."

Zak kissed the top of Rose's head. "Me too."

Rose lifted her head and looked at Zak. "So, what have you got planned?"

"Nothing."

Rose took a step back. "Nothing?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Like you, I want our relationship to be real so I thought _we_ would decide what we would be doing tonight, not some list I made up in my head."

"Touché" Rose said as she sat down on the couch. Zak quickly followed.

"So, why were you and Kara talking about me earlier?" Rose asked, a little too quickly.

Zak was taken aback. "Did she tell you?"

"No, her boyfriend Owen told me you two talked, but he didn't tell me why. Kara didn't tell him."

"Good, she kept her mouth shut."

"What were you talking about?" Rose asked a little more seriously.

"You." Zak answered.

"Yea, I knew that. What about me?"

Zak started to pick at a piece of string hanging off the couch. "She gave me an interview. She wanted to make sure I was worthy enough for you."

Rose gave a small laugh. "Yea, I figured it was something like that."

"There was something else too."

Rose looked at Zak sharply. "What?"

"I told her that I had a surprise for you, and that she couldn't tell you since it was really important to me."

That's why Kara wouldn't say anything to Rose earlier. Now she felt stupid for going off on Kara earlier.

"What's the surprise?"

Zak gave a sly smirk. "I'll go get it." Zak then ran off to some room and returned a few seconds later and handed the item to Rose.

Rose took it and almost cried.

In Rose's hand was a necklace with a hand carved and painted Rose hanging from it. It was simple but effective.

Rose looked at Zak with tears in her eyes. "Did you make this?"

Zak nodded his head and showed Rose his hands. There were small cuts from the knife used to carve the rose, and red and green paint smears from where Zak had painted it.

"I love it." Rose said, hugging Zak.

Zak grabbed the necklace and motioned for Rose to turn around. She did so and Zak moved Rose's hair to one said. He placed the necklace around Rose's neck and clipped it together, Zak's hands grazing Rose's neck as he did so.

After it was on, Rose turned around and kissed Zak. He kissed back deeply.

They stayed like this for a while, hands exploring each other's bodies.

Zak moved his hands to the bottom of Rose's shirt and started to lift it up.

Rose grabbed his hands and pushed them down. "No." she said.

Zak immediately moved his hands. "Okay, we don't have to if you don't want to."

Oh, but Rose wanted to. She _really_ wanted to. But, there were two reasons holding her back.

didn't want to break the law.

didn't want to put Zak through this, without him knowing the real Rose.

If the two are going to give themselves to each other, Rose had to tell Zak everything first.

"I have to tell you something." Rose said, looking Zak in the eye.

Zak's look grew serious. "What?"

Rose hesitated. Would Zoe, Kara and Anna get mad at her for telling Zak?

Dylan knew about A, and he and Anna aren't even dating. Rose would tell Zak.

"I really don't want you to freak out or anything, but my life has been a living hell for the past month."

"What, wh-"

Rose interrupted Zak. She wanted to get this out as fast as she could.

"Someone is stalking me. Well, not just me. There stalking Anna, Zoe and Kara and they know everything."

"Why don't you just go to the police?" Zak asked, grabbing Rose's hands. "If you have the texts, you can give them to the cops and they can track down who sent them."

"We would but they would probably hurt one of us or someone we love. What if they hurt you?"

Zak shook his head. "They won't hurt me, I wouldn't let them."

Rose stood up. "You're not taking this seriously, Zak! A has hurt us! He freaking drugged Anna and cut her back up and he kidnapped Kara last night and locked her in a shed full of poisonous snakes! A is dangerous, Zak!"

Zak stood up and walked over Rose. "They go by A?"

Rose nodded her head.

Zak hugged Rose and said into her ear, "Tell me everything you know about A so I know what to look out for. I won't let you or your friends get hurt anymore."

Rose doubted that but it was nice to know that Zak was taking this seriously now.

So, Rose told Zak everything. She told him how A knew all of their secrets, how the girls know that there are two A's and how one of them is a boy.

"There's two? How do you know?" Zak asked, trying to fit the pieces together.

"When Kara was kidnapped, she said that she saw one of them out in the distance waving at her and another one put a bag over her head."

"What else do you know?"

"I already told you everything." Rose said, holding on to her new necklace.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes, Zak, I told you everything."

"Okay, if I were you, I would stop looking for clues."

"What?" Rose asked loudly. Why would he say that?

"It seems like the more you know, the more A tries to hurt you."

"What? How?"

"Well, just when everyone was getting themselves back together and figuring things out about A, Anna was attacked. Probably because she is 'the smart one' of the group and would figure everything out first. Then, when Kara figured out the whole deal about how your parents have gone through this whole A thing too, she was put in the shed. So stop figuring things out and you should be fine."

"But we have to figure out who the A's are! We have to stop it!"

"I understand that, but I don't want you to get hurt." Zak pleaded.

"Okay fine. I'll try my best not to look for any clues." Rose lied.

Zak smiled and gave Rose a quick kiss.

Then the doorbell rang.

"Probably the pizza, I'll be right back." Zak said, getting up and heading to the other room.

Rose waited until she got a text.

 _ **You should listen to him, Rose. Quit it or you're next.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose aggressively put her phone down and stood up and walked to her bag.

The outfit she was wearing was itchy so Rose decided she would change into her pajamas.

She went to the nearest bathroom and changed quickly. While she was in there, Rose washed off her makeup and took off her bra. She was completely comfortable with Zak now.

When Rose returned, Zak was in the kitchen getting plates.

"Is that my hoodie?" Zak asked when he handed Rose a plate.

"I hope you know you're never getting this back."

"Keep it; it looks better on you anyways."

Rose smiled and grabbed a piece of cheese pizza.

The rest of the night, Zak and Rose talked about many different things. Rose didn't know what everything was about, but they did _not_ talk about A, which made Rose very happy.

It was midnight when Rose and Zak stopped talking.

"Crap!" Rose yelled when she looked at the clock.

"What?" Zak also yelled, shocked at Rose's outburst.

"I have school tomorrow and I don't want to fall asleep in the middle of class."

"Okay, then let's get you to bed." Zak said, extending his hand.

Zak led Rose to his room.

"You can sleep on the bed while I'll sleep on the floor." Zak said, pulling some blankets from the bed.

Rose shook her head. "No, it's your apartment, you get the bed."

Zak rushed over and lifted Rose over his shoulder. "Nope, you get the bed." He said as he flung her onto the bed.

Rose laughed when she flung down and looked up at Zak. "Can you sleep on here with me?"

Zak looked down at Rose and gave a quiet, "Yea."

Sometime in the night, Rose and Zak started spooning. Rose, extremely happy, whispered, "I love you."

It wasn't even a full second before Zak responded, "I love you too."

* * *

 **(The next afternoon)**

Zoe was extremely tired. She wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. But she couldn't.

Zoe was at school. School seemed so alien to Zoe. It had been over a week since Zoe last walked the halls of Rosewood high.

A lot of people asked Zoe why she was gone for so long and she simply said she was sick.

This was kinda true. She was sick of her family.

Zoe hadn't talked to any of her friends yet. She didn't think she would be able to face them and tell them about the whole Jason thing.

Zoe's hands started to shake. She tried to pay attention to class but couldn't.

Zoe tried everything to stop shaking. She just kept looking at her teacher, Ms. McCullers, but her sight kept going in and out of focus.

She couldn't take it anymore. She was sweating now.

Zoe shot her hand up. "Ms. McCullers can I please go to the bathroom."

Ms. McCullers looked like she was about to say no, but when she saw Zoe, she must've seen how she was struggling. She said, "Yes." softly.

Zoe stood up and rushed to the bathroom. She ran into the closest stall and sat down. Tears escaped Zoe's eyes as she leaned her head down and stared at the floor. What was wrong with her? Zoe looked under the stall and saw that nobody else was in the bathroom.

Zoe exited the stall and looked at herself in the mirror. She was sweaty. _Very_ sweaty. Zoe ran her hands under the water and splashed her face. Zoe then took some paper towel and started to wipe her face.

She continued to look at herself. Zoe just stared. She hated herself. Everything in her life right now sucked. Zoe just wanted it all to go away.

Zoe shook that thought from her mind. She didn't want to die. She never wanted to reach such a dark place.

Zoe stared to sweat intensely again. She was about to take of her sweater and change into her gym t-shirt when she remembered her cuts. Nobody could see them. Everyone in Zoe's life wouldn't understand. They would all over react.

Zoe took deep breaths. After a few minutes the sweating stopped. Zoe, once again, took paper towel and wiped herself down. She gave a confident stare into the mirror and left the bathroom.

Zoe returned to class with a few minutes to spare. When the bell rang she was stopped by her teacher.

"Zoe, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure." Zoe said calmly. She walked over to Ms. McCullers' desk.

Ms. McCullers stared at Zoe seriously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Zoe replied. How was it that Zoe's teacher noticed something was wrong before her parents.

"Zoe, you're sweating." Ms. McCullers said, still with worry in her voice.

That was why.

"It's just hot." Zoe thought up quickly.

"Zoe, it's the winter."

"It's hot in this room. I'm fine, Ms. McCullers." Zoe said, looking her teacher in the eye.

Ms. McCullers got the hint. "Okay, well, I don't want you to look like a fool so if you get too hot, please change into a different shirt. I know you have P.E so you can always switch into your gym shirt."

"I will, thank you, Ms. McCullers." Zoe said, turning around to leave the classroom.

Ms. McCullers didn't say anything as Zoe left the room.

* * *

"So, Rose, how was your night with Zak?" Kara asked, shoving a grape into her mouth.

Zoe had completely forgotten about that. "Yea how was it?"

Hopefully if Zoe focused on something, she would stop shaking.

"It was fine. And, because I know you're wondering, Kara, we didn't have sex." Rose responded.

"Good girl." Kara said, eating another grape.

"…but I did tell Zak about A." Rose muttered.

"What?" Zoe and Kara said at the same time.

"I felt bad about keeping it from him. Plus, Dylan knows about A, and him and Anna aren't even dating." Rose said.

That was true.

"As long as he doesn't tell anyone, I'm fine with it." Zoe said to Rose.

"He won't. He isn't like that."

Kara's eyes widened. "Dylan at twelve o' clock."

Dylan was at the table in a matter of seconds. He slammed his tray onto the table and asked.

"Where's Anna?"

"She can't leave the house remember." Zoe said.

"Yea, I know. I just really want to see her." Dylan said shaking his leg nervously.

"Then go see her. Go after school." Kara said to Dylan, moving on to her applesauce.

"Do you think she would mind?" Dylan asked.

"No. Trust me; she would be more than happy if you paid a visit to her." Kara said stuffing her mouth with food.

"Kara!" Rose whispered in a harsh tone, which was followed by a quick hit to the elbow.

Dylan brushed past Kara's comment. "Okay, I'll go. But um.. has anything happened to you guys since the whole snake thing?"

"Dylan, it's been a day. I'm sure Anna would tell you if A attacked one of us." Zoe said to Dylan. Zoe noticed his body relax. He was very tense. He must really care about the group.

"When are you going to ask Anna out?" Kara said from out of nowhere.

"Kara!" Rose and Zoe said at the same time.

"Does she want me to ask her out?" Dylan asked, leaning in to get an answer from Kara.

"I don't know. Why don't you grow a pair and find out." Kara responded.

"What is wrong with you?" Zoe whispered into Kara's ear.

"If he wants to protect us from A, he needs to be strong enough to ask Anna out."

"Kara, he tackled A so we could get you out of the shed, I think he's proven how strong he is to us." Zoe said.

Kara didn't say anything. She just went back to her apple sauce.

Dylan left shortly after that and the rest of lunch was silent.

At least one good thing came out of that awkward conversation.

Zoe wasn't shaking anymore.

* * *

 **AN: Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of my followers and to show my thanks I decided to post a chapter today!**

 **I also want to have a contest.**

 **I'm going to introduce a new character soon, and I still need a name. So, if you review and give you're theory on who you think A might be, or who your favorite character is and why (and you have to leave your name.) I will randomly pick one and you're name will be in my story!**

 **The contest will end on Saturday.**

 **This is my way of showing that I really care about you guys.**

 **Love you! 3**

 **-Jessica**


	14. In Too Deep

**AN: Hello my little bitches! I am very happy with all your comments for the contest but I decided that giving you three days was not enough time, so I am extending the date till Thursday. (All you're guy's names are so cute I love you all so much!)**

 **Leapyearbaby29**

 **Foster-Callie-Lover**

 **Thanks for following and favoriting!**

 **In response to Olga: YES OMG I LOVE EMISON! Zoe is one of my favorite characters to write because most of the time Emison is in the chapter. xD**

 **Enjoy chapter 13!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own pll.**

* * *

… _knock…knock…knock…_

Anna got up to answer the door. She expected to see one of her friends but Anna was wrong.

"Dylan?"

He pushed past Anna and let himself in.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asked, closing the door.

"I'm freaking out over the whole A thing." He said, sitting on the couch.

Anna, confused, sat on the couch next to Dylan. " _You're_ freaking out?"

"Yes I'm freaking out!" Dylan said loudly.

Anna shook her head. "Why? It's Kara, Rose, Zoe and I that are getting attacked. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm worried because A is targeting _you._ I would much rather they hurt me."

Anna grabbed Dylan's hand. "Don't say that. I'm sure that A is listening right now and they might start to attack you now."

"Good! That would take less pain away from you." Dylan said.

"Dylan please stop. I _really_ don't want anything to happen to you." Anna said matter-of-factly.

"Has anything else happened to you guys?"

"No. Just a few texts but nothing harmful."

Dylan took a breath out. "Good."

Anna scrunched her eyebrows. "You're really freaked out by this aren't you?"

"It's all I think about."

"Well then we have to get your mind away from the thought."

"How?" Dylan asked confused.

"Talk."

"What?"

"Just talk about something that makes you happy."

"Well, there is this one girl that has entered my life recently and every time I'm around her, I'm happy. Or at least try to be." Dylan said shyly.

Anna looked down. He was probably walking about Chelsey. Anna still hasn't heard from her since the maze thing, but maybe, when Dylan wasn't with Anna, he was with Chelsey.

Anna looked at Dylan and she could see the panic slowly leave his body.

As much as it might hurt, Anna wanted to see Dylan happy.

"Tell me more about her." Anna said with a smile.

"Well, I've actually known her for a long time, but I'm an idiot and just started to talk to her."

He isn't describing Chelsey. He's known her for a while.

"Every time I'm with her, I just want to lean over and kiss her. You see, she lives a dangerous life and I constantly worry if the last time I see her _is_ the last time I will see her."

It just now clicked. "I would go for it." Anna said cleverly.

"You think so?" Dylan said, looking at Anna.

"Absolutely."

"I don't know, what if-"

Anna was sick of waiting. She grabbed Dylan's face and kissed him.

Dylan kissed back with just as much passion as Anna. The two stayed like this until they had to come up for air.

Anna looked at Dylan. "How long have you felt like that?" She asked.

"The day you ran into the park."

"That's the first time we ever had a conversation." Anna said. He really fell for her as soon as they first talked?

"You swept me off my feet." He said with a smirk.

Anna went back for another kiss. Like the last one, it was long and passionate.

Even though Dylan and Anna had just now spilled their feelings, the kisses told a different story.

If felt like the two had been together for years, that they cared about each other more than themselves.

Anna trusted Dylan.

She broke apart and looked Dylan in the eye. She must have sent the message through her eyes without meaning to.

Dylan's eyes widened. "You want to?"

Anna smirked. "Like you said. This could be the last time you see me."

They both laughed and went back to their kisses.

* * *

"Do I have to go?" Dylan asked, putting his shirt back on.

"My parents will be home soon." Anna said, brushing her hair.

Dylan groaned. "When will I be able to see you again?"

"I can't leave the house so anytime you feel like it." Anna said, walking back over to Dylan.

Dylan smiled and kissed Anna.

Anna grabbed his hand and led him down the stairs from her room.

She stopped mid step when she saw her dad's car in the driveway.

Dylan noticed the pause. "What?"

"Did you drive here?" Anna asked quickly.

"No, I walked."

"Good, leave through the back door." Anna stared to push Dylan towards the back door.

"Anna, wait, what are you doing?" Dylan said turning around.

"My dad is walking up the driveway. You need to leave!" Anna said.

Dylan looked out the window and saw Toby walk up the pathway to the front door.

Dylan ran to the back door. He ran back, kissed Anna, and said. "Bye." As he closed the door. Anna watched as he ran down the street.

Anna then darted to her room, opened the window and then started to rip off the sheets. She threw them in a wastebasket. Anna picked the basket up and her dad walked into her room.

"Hey." Toby said when he saw Anna.

"Hey, dad." Anna said calmly.

Toby looked at the sheets and pointed at them. "Laundry?"

Anna looked down at the pile. "Yep. Thought I would wash them."

Toby walked over to Anna and tried to grab the basket. "You want me to do it? You have to be careful with your back."

Anna stepped back and pulled the basket close to her. She already did stuff with her back that she shouldn't have today. "Nope, I got it. My back feels fine, I barley feel any pain now." This was true, but her back started to ache from what she and Dylan had just done.

"Okay, if you insist, but I still want-" Toby stopped mid-sentence and stared at something on the ground.

Anna followed her dad's eyes.

Dylan's jacket.

"Who's is that?" Toby asked, looking at Anna with a stern look.

Anna thought fast. "Mine."

"It's two sizes too big for you, Anna."

"I like to have big jackets to wear when I'm relaxing around the house, dad."

Toby, still suspicious, replied with a sharp, "Okay." And left the room.

Anna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Anna's phone buzzed a few seconds after that.

 **Everything go okay?**

 **-Dylan**

Anna responded with:

 **Yes, he doesn't suspect a thing.**

 **-Anna**

Which was of course a lie, but she didn't want Dylan to freak out.

Anna picked up her phone and sent another text.

 **I think you shouldn't come over for a few days though. You left your jacket and my dad saw but I played it off but he may question it if you're here.**

 **-Anna**

After a few seconds Dylan replied.

 **Okay, I'll try my best to keep my distance, but it'll be hard. ;)**

 **-Dylan**

Anna laughed and put her phone down.

She took the basket full of sheets and walked down to the laundry room. Anna shoved the clothes into the washer and started it.

Anna went to walk back to her room when she heard her parents talking in the other room. Anna's mom must have just come home.

"-No" Spencer said drawn out.

"Emily told me earlier today." Toby responded.

"When are we going to tell Anna?"

"We have to tell her so it might as well be now. She's in her room do you want me to go get her?"

Anna's eyes widened. Did something happen to Zoe?

"Yeah, go get her." Spencer answered.

Anna quickly rushed up the stairs and jumped onto her naked bed and pretended to be on her phone. After about a minute, there was a knock at her door.

"Come in." Anna said.

Toby opened the door. "Hey, you're mom and I want to talk to you downstairs."

Anna pretended to look confused, actually she kinda was, and gave a quiet, "okay" and followed her dad downstairs and sat across from her parents in the main room.

"Is Zoe okay?" Anna asked straight off the bat.

"She's fine but-" Spencer stopped her sentence. "How do you know that this is about Zoe?"

"I heard you and dad mention her name but then I went back to my room."

"Zoe's fine but we need to tell you something about her." Toby said, putting everyone back on track.

"What?" Anna asked, clearly confused.

"You and Zoe are half cousins." Toby said flat out.

Anna scrunched her face up. What? Anna and Zoe were related? Barley, but they were.

"How?" Anna asked.

"Jason, you're half uncle, is Zoe's biological father." Toby explained.

"That makes you half cousins." Spencer added.

Jason is Zoe's dad? Strange.

Anna stood up in a trance like state. She was 110% more protective towards Zoe now.

"Where are you going?" Toby asked when Anna stood up.

"I'm going to see Zoe." Anna responded, putting on her coat.

"You can't leave the house." Spencer said, standing up next to her husband.

"I don't care about my back, mom!" Anna yelled at her mom angrily.

"We won't let you leave." Spencer said sternly.

Anna turned to look at her mom. "You're not going to let me see Zoe?"

Spencer shook her head.

Anna let out a quite laugh. "You won't let me see my family? Does that sound familiar to you, Spencer?" Anna never called her mom by her name to her face, but Anna was trying to send a message.

Spencer looked at the floor. She understood.

"Mom, when you found out that Jason was your half-brother and your dad wouldn't let you see him, how did that make you feel?"

Spencer didn't answer.

"But you snuck off anyway." Anna said, resting her case.

"Go. But don't be too long." Toby said.

"I will. Thanks." Anna said to her dad.

Anna grabbed her keys and walked to her car.

* * *

Anna knocked ferociously on Zoe's door. Emily answered after a few knocks.

"Anna?" She asked rather loudly. Alison was at the door after Emily shouted.

"Do you know?" Alison asked.

"Yes, I know. Can I please see Zoe?"

Both moms moved aside and let Anna in. "Is she in her room?"

"Yeah. She won't come out." Emily said in a sad voice.

"We call her name and she won't even respond." Alison said.

"I'll get her out, don't worry." Anna said.

"Try to convince her to talk to us please. We have to go to some meeting so please make her happy to see us when we get home." Emily pleaded.

"I will, don't worry." Anna said with a soft smile.

The moms nodded and left the house.

Anna then went up the stairs to Zoe's room and knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Zoe, its Anna."

Still no response.

Anna put her ear to the door and heard nothing. Not a sound.

She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Zoe was asleep on the bed. Anna closed the door and sat next to Zoe's sleeping body.

Anna shook Zoe and called her name. "Zoe."

She didn't wake up. "Zoe!" Anna called a little louder.

She still didn't move. Anna grabbed Zoe's blanket and ripped it off.

Anna screamed. The bed was covered in blood from Zoe's wrists.

Zoe's wrists were covered in deep cuts going up and down each arm.

One cut on Zoe's left arm was gushing. It was dangerously close to the vein.

Anna shook Zoe again. "ZOE!" She yelled.

No response.

Anna was crying and shaking.

Anna put her fingers to Zoe's neck to check for a pulse. There was one, but it was faint.

Anna shot up from the bed and out of Zoe's room. Anna quickly searched for a needle and thread. She found some in Emily's jewelry box. She then ran to the bathroom and found antiseptic in a drawer. Anna grabbed a roll of toilet paper and ran back to Zoe's room.

Anna put the antiseptic on toilet paper and pushed it against Zoe's wrists.

She then grabbed the needle and tried to put the string through the eye of the needle but failed. She was shaking so badly.

"Damn it!" Anna yelled.

Anna took deep breaths and calmed herself down enough to thread the needle.

She looked down at Zoe's wrist, still gushing with blood.

Sure, Anna knew how to sew. But sewing another person's skin together? That was different.

Anna took another deep breath and brought the needle down into Zoe's skin. She then brought the needle back and closed up a tiny bit of the wound.

Anna stopped and wiped her tears. She took another breath and finished the sewing job.

Anna, once again, checked for a pulse and found it getting stronger.

Anna continued to clean out all of Zoe's other cuts with antiseptic as she waited for her to wake up.

* * *

It was a little over an hour when Zoe woke up.

Anna watched as her eyes fluttered open.

"Anna?" Zoe croaked when she saw Anna.

"You have some serious explaining to do!" Anna said angrily.

Zoe looked at Anna with a pitiful look. "Well, I'm guessing you found out were half-cousins so what do you want me to explain?"

"Zoe I'm talking about the fact that you tried to kill yourself!"

Zoe's eyes widened. "What? I didn't-" She stopped when she looked down at her bloody bed. "What happened?"

"I found you with a giant gash in your arm! You're lucky you aren't dead, Zoe!"

Zoe looked down at her wrist and saw it stitched up. She looked up at Anna with a worried look. "Anna, I didn't mean to do this!"

"You slit you're wrist, Zoe. That has consequences."

Tears streamed down Zoe's face. "I don't want to die." She was shaking badly now.

Anna pulled Zoe towards her and hugged her. "If you don't want to die, then stop cutting." Anna said to Zoe's ear.

"I can't stop." Zoe whispered.

Anna pulled away and held Zoe's hand. "Tell me what's wrong and we will figure this out."

"Okay. Can you wash the sheets first?" Zoe asked, looking at her blood on the bed.

Anna nodded and ripped the blankets, sheets, everything, off of Zoe's bed. Both girls walked to the laundry room and threw the sheets into the washer. Then the girls sat down on the couch.

"Tell me what's wrong." Anna said softly.

"Ever since the whole Daniel thing, I don't feel like myself. I don't feel alive. After that, all these bad things kept happening and I wanted to forget about it, so I cut and it made me feel alive again. I thought it helped. I lied to you, Rose and Kara and said I stopped because I thought it wouldn't go as far as me dying and I wanted you all to stop worrying about me."

"Zoe, you have nothing to be scared about. Nobody will let you get hurt." Anna said.

"That's not what I'm afraid of." Zoe said, avoiding eye contact with Anna.

Anna, confused, asked, "What are you scared off?"

"My body. I've been puking and shaking and sweating and passing out and I'm scared."

Anna thought long and hard. Anna knew a lot about medical things.

"Zoe, I know what you're thinking and you're not pregnant."

Zoe let out a sharp breath. "How do you know?"

"Because those aren't the side effects."

"Do you know what's wrong with me then?"

"After what I saw today I'm almost positive that your body is low on blood. You cut _a lot_ and you have extreme blood loss."

"That's it?"

"Zoe, that's serious!"

Zoe looked at the ground, ashamed. "I want to stop."

Anna looked at Zoe with a sympathetic look. "We'll find a way."

Zoe smiled at Anna. It was a genuine smile, not a fake one.

Anna smiled back and did not leave Zoe's side until her parents got home.

* * *

Kara had only been home from school for five minutes before someone knocked on her door.

When she opened it, it was Rose.

"Hey." Kara said, kinda confused. She still didn't know if Rose was mad at her or not.

"Can I come in?" Rose asked.

Kara stepped aside and Rose walked in and sat on the edge of the couch.

"I want to thank you." Rose said which shocked Kara.

Kara walked over to the couch and sat down next to Rose. "Why?"

"For keeping the secret about Zak."

"You aren't mad at me?" Kara asked, shocked.

Rose shook her head. "No. I'm happy you didn't tell me or else the necklace wouldn't have felt as special."

"He gave you a necklace?"

"Yeah, you wanna see it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, let me see."

Rose removed the necklace from her neck and handed it to Kara.

Kara's jaw dropped. "Rose! This is beautiful!"

"I know." Rose said proudly, taking the necklace back from Kara.

"How was your night with Zak by the way?" Kara asked.

"Amazing. I told him about A and, yeah he was curious about it but when he noticed I was uncomfortable he changed the subject."

Kara raised her eyebrows. "You need someone like that. If he kept going on about A you would have probably punched him in the leg." Kara said, remembering when Rose hit Kara in the leg.

Rose threw her fist up and said sarcastically, "I'll do it again."

Kara bounced up from the couch and said, "No, don't I still have a bruise."

Rose laughed and Kara did to.

"I have to head home, my mom knew about me going to Zak's and she'll freak out if I don't get home on time. She'll most likely think that I went to Zak's again."

Kara laughed again and opened the door for Rose.

She watched as Rose got in her car and drove away.

Kara tensed up when she saw something, no someone, laying on the roof of Rose's car.

She grabbed her phone and quickly texted Rose:

 **A is on your car! Get him off!**

 **-Kara**

* * *

 **AN: I know Kara's perspective was** _ **way**_ **to short but I didn't know what to write. Lol.**

 **I am loving all you're theory's guys! Keep it up!**

 **And don't be afraid to ask me questions like Olga did. I** _ **will**_ **answer them! They can be about the story or about me!**

 **Love you guys!**

 **-Jessica**


	15. Get out of my heAd!

**AN: Hey guys! I am getting so much positive reviews my heart is melting!**

 **Also, I have a winner for the name contest!**

 **Foster-Callie-Stef-Lover Congratulations you won. You're character name, Amanda, will be in the next chapter.**

 **Pllneve**

 **Rhiannacooper**

 **You all followed and favorited.**

 **Guillermina followed**

 **Hptfiosjourneytotheriversea followed and favorited a while ago, but I forgot to mention that they favorited so here you go!**

 **Please, if I ever forget to mention you, please tell me so I can put your name in the next chapter.**

 **Thanks! Enjoy chapter 14!**

* * *

Rose heard her phone buzz, but didn't look at it.

When Rose was parked in her drive way, she looked at the text.

 **A is on your car! Get him off!**

 **-Kara**

Rose tensed up and stayed silent. She listened to see if she could hear anything, but it was quite.

After a few minutes of silence, Rose grew anxious. She didn't hear anything.

Her plan was to get out of the car and run really fast. If nobody was there, Rose would stop running. But if someone _did_ chase her… let's just hope that nobody does.

Rose took a deep breath and opened the door. She quickly hopped out of it and ran. She didn't even bother closing the door.

Rose looked behind her and saw nobody chasing her. She wasn't that far from her car so Rose had no idea how A could have gotten off the car and ran away that quickly.

It didn't matter, Rose was just happy that A wasn't chasing her.

Rose closed the car door and made her way over to the front door of her house.

The door was locked, as usual, so Rose inserted her key and entered her house.

Right away Rose could tell that something was off. Her parents were usually home by now. Nobody was home.

Out of the nothingness, a blood-curdling scream come from somewhere in the house.

Rose dropped everything she was holding and covered her ears.

The scream sounded again. Rose ran towards the noise when she recognized who the scream came from.

It was her mother.

The screams kept sounding and Rose could not find the source. It sounded like it was coming from all over the house.

She ran all over the house calling for her mother, but all Rose got in return was the agonizing screams of her mother.

Rose ran past her basement door when a single scream sounded again.

Rose took a deep breath and wiped her eyes free of tears.

Another scream sounded and Rose didn't hesitate to run down the stairs.

"Don't you dare touch my mother!" Rose screamed as she ran down the stairs.

When Rose reached the bottom, it was pitch black. And absolutely silent.

Rose ran her hand along the wall until she found the lightswitch.

The light blared on and Rose slumped when she saw the tape recorder.

She walked over to the table that held various items, including the tape recorder that was playing Aria's screams on a loop. Another one played and Rose turned the thing off.

There was a note on the table. Rose picked it up and read.

 _ **Your Turn.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose dropped the note and turned towards the stairs. She got a short glimpse of a black hoodie before the door was slammed closed.

"No!" Rose screamed, lunging for the stairs.

It was too late, the door was locked.

Rose sat at the top of stairs in horror. She listened to the footsteps that paced the house.

Rose pounded on the door. "Let me out!" She screamed.

No response.

A static noise came from the basement somewhere.

Rose followed the noise to see what it was.

An old T.V set was one of the items on the table. It was now forming a fuzzy picture.

The pictured cleared and a young Aria was on the screen.

Aria was in her old bedroom. (Rose recognized it from old pictures.) But something was off with it. The windows were cemented in.

Aria walked over to a table with pink hair dye in a bottle on it. She picked it up and looked at the camera. "I am not your doll." She said sternly.

Aria then proceeded to destroy her room. She knocked things off the desk, threw pictures off her wall.

The image then grew blurry.

When it cleared, Aria was now asleep in her bed. She woke up and was greeted with the bottle of hair dye again. Written on a T.V was "Dye it now or lose it all."

Rose could only assume it was A, the old A, who put it there.

Aria sat up, and Rose gasped. Aria reached for the back of her head and noticed the hair that was gone. Resting on the pillow were strips of Aria's hair. She grabbed them and mumbled. "Oh my god." Under her breath.

Then the image went black.

Rose went back to the door and shouted. "Why are you showing me this?"

Rose was thrown back when the door flung open. Rose flung down the stairs, hitting her head hard on the way down.

She looked up and saw A at the top of the stairs. Slowly, they started to descend.

Rose stood up and backed away. A continued to step towards Rose and she continued to walk away until the wall stopped her.

Rose looked at A as they walked up to her.

"Don't you dare touch me." Rose warned in her bravest tone.

A was now inches from Rose.

A did nothing. Just stared at her through the black mask hiding their face.

Rose started back, trying her best to not seem frightened.

In one swift move, A had their hands around Rose's neck.

Rose threw her hands up and clawed at A.

Rose struggled under A's grasp. Her air was slowly slipping away.

A tightened their grip.

Rose reached around her. There was a small plank of wood resting on the wall just in Rose's reach.

She grabbed it and thrust it on A's head.

A's hands released Rose's throat she ran.

Rose was almost at the stairs when a hand grabbed at Rose's hair. She screamed in pain as her head was pushed forwards.

Rose threw her hands up and sucker punched A in the jaw.

A fell back and Rose took the opportunity to hit them again. This time in the gut.

Something flew from A's pocket and they tried to go after it, but Rose stomped on their hand. As A recovered, Rose grabbed the object, a flash drive, and picked up the closest thing to her. A hammer.

Rose held it up and threatened A. "Get out of my house _now_!"

A stood up and stared at Rose.

"NOW!" She yelled one more time.

A darted past Rose and ran up the stairs. Rose soon followed and got a quick glimpse of A leaving out the back door.

Rose locked every entrance to the house and then stopped to catch her breath.

She could still feel the gloved fingers around her throat.

Rose went up to her room and looked in the mirror.

Here hair was tangled from when A grabbed it and there were red marks around Rose's neck.

She rubbed her neck but the marks still didn't fully go away. Rose took some make up and covered up the worst parts on her neck. It looked good enough to where her parents wouldn't question Rose.

She then ran a brush through her hair and fixed her makeup that was smudged from crying.

Rose went to switch outfits since what she was wearing was covered in sweat and dust. When Rose grabbed her pants she felt the flashdrive in the pockets.

She grabbed it and looked at it. She heard the front door open again. She tensed up but stopped when she heard her mom and dad's voices.

She ran down the stairs and almost started to cry when she saw her mom. The video of Aria flashed back into Rose's head.

"Hey Rose." Aria said when she saw her daughter.

Rose looked at her mom and dad angrily.

"Where have you two been?!" Rose said in a harsh voice.

Rose's parent looked taken aback. Aria looked at Rose with a questioning look. "I left a note explaining that your dad and I went to see a movie since we both got off early today."

Rose looked around and saw no such note. "Where?" She asked.

Aria walked over to the counted and, once again, looked confused. "I put it right here."

"You couldn't have texted me?" Rose said, trying to calm down.

"Rose, you know I don't like to text very much."

Rose crossed her arms.

Aria bent down and mumbled. "Where is that note." She bounced back up after a few seconds with a piece of paper in her hand. "Here it is. It must've fallen off the counter somehow."

Rose avoided eye contact with her parents. While looking down, Rose saw her phone on the ground, with the screen cracked.

Ezra must have seen it to. "Rose, why is your phone on the ground?"

"It must've fallen off the counter somehow." Rose said, mocking her mother.

Aria gave her daughter an intense look.

"Next time, please just leave a text so you can know for sure that I got it."

Aria nodded her head.

"Thank you. I'll be in my room if you need me."

With that, Rose picked up her phone and headed up the stairs to her room.

She looked through the cracked screen and tried to start a group message with Anna, Kara and Zoe saying that Rose might've found evidence on A.

Rose was interrupted with a text before she could begin typing.

 _ **The next thing that will be shattered is your bones if you tell anyone about that flashdrive.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose looked out the window and saw the hooded figure across the street.

Almost as quickly as A appeared, he was gone.

* * *

Zoe stared at the thread woven into her skin. Looking at it hurt, not physically but emotionally. Zoe was still in shock. Sure, she had gone through some terrible things, but Zoe still wanted to live. Zoe wasn't sure what made her cut a little deeper last time. Maybe it was the fact that Jason was Zoe's father, or maybe it was the fact that Zoe had just figured out moments before that it was a month since Daniel got taken away for community service. He would be back soon.

Zoe looked over to the bathroom. She wanted nothing more than to use the razor.

She closed her eyes and thought of something else. Nothing came.

Zoe got up from her bed and left her room. She wanted to get as far away as she could from that bathroom. She wanted to stop cutting badly.

Zoe entered her kitchen and grabbed an apple. She could hear her parents discussing something in the other room, but Zoe couldn't make it out.

The thirst for the razor came back again and Zoe took a big bite out of her apple. It wouldn't go away.

Zoe stood up and started to pace the kitchen. The thought stuck to Zoe's brain like glue.

Zoe paced faster and faster. Zoe threw the apple on the ground and put her hands to her head. An excruciating throb began to pound on Zoe's temples.

Zoe collapsed in pain and fell to her knees. A small groan escaped her lips.

Zoe pinched her eyes closed and prayed for the pain to go away.

When nothing happened, Zoe opened her eyes. Through the blurriness of the tears, Zoe saw someone standing in front of her. Zoe weakly brought he hand to her face and wiped her tears.

Zoe's blood ran cold when she saw Daniel. Zoe put her arms down and tried to stand up but she couldn't.

He just stood and grinned at Zoe. Zoe cried out with a mixture of fear and pain.

"Zoe?" Zoe heard from off in the distance.

Zoe tried to yell back but her voice wouldn't work.

Daniel slowly made his way over to Zoe. He walked so slow it was agonizing

He had the same angry look from the night they last saw each other. The night that caused Zoe to slit her wrists.

Daniel was only a few feet from Zoe now.

She found her voice. "Leave me alone!"

Daniel now leaned down to be at the same height as Zoe.

"Please don't hurt me." Zoe pleaded.

He reached his arm and rapped his arm around Zoe's wrist. The one that was stitched up.

Zoe shut her eyes and screamed in an agonizing pain. The pressure felt like a million needles being stabbed into her.

When Zoe opened her eyes, it was no longer Daniel in front of her.

Zoe was staring into her own eyes.

Zoe stared. The other Zoe had the exact same face. But she was happy. She had a little grin.

Zoe stared at herself, confused.

The smiling, happy Zoe's smile started to fade. Her finger traveled down the real Zoe's arm and stopped at the stitched cut.

The other Zoe's face turned sad. She brought her finger to her own wrist. The real Zoe followed the finger and saw the fake Zoe's wrists now slit.

The fake Zoe screamed in pain.

The real Zoe watched herself bleed. She watched herself die. The real Zoe screamed in terror at the sight of herself suffering.

Zoe then felt a warm familiar hug. She looked up to see Alison wrap her arms around Zoe. She was whispering something, but Zoe couldn't hear through the dying Zoe's screams.

Zoe looked back at herself and saw Emily in front of her. A worried look on her face. She was also saying something, but Zoe couldn't hear her either.

Zoe's eyes focused on the figures behind her mother.

Daniel and the now dead Zoe.

"Go away!" Zoe screamed out in pain.

Zoe looked at Emily. "Mom, make it stop."

Emily had tears in her eyes. She yelled something to Alison and the warmness of her mother's grasp left Zoe.

The two monsters of Zoe's mind remained. Daniel laughing at the real Zoe, and the dead Zoe was now rotting away. Bugs were crawling out of her body.

"Get out of my head!" Zoe screamed over and over again.

After an eternity of torture, Zoe was finally blessed with the darkness.

* * *

Zoe felt a tight squeeze on hand. Zoe's instincts told her to squeeze back, so she did.

"Ali, she squeezed!"

It was Emily talking. Zoe shot her eyes open and saw Emily off to her right, holding Zoe's right hand. Alison was to Zoe's left, holding Zoe's left hand.

Zoe had no idea where she was.

Zoe's arms were exposed. Her cuts, all of them, were showing.

"Oh my god, Zoe." Alison said happily when Zoe opened her eyes.

"What happened?" Zoe croaked out.

"Infection." Emily said. Zoe turned her head to look at her. "The cut on your left wrist wasn't taken care of properly. Whoever sewed it up did a good job of stopping the bleeding, but not a good enough job at making sure it stayed clean."

"Anna." Zoe murmured.

"I suspected it would be her." Alison said.

"That's where all the pain came from back home. That's why you were hallucinating things." Emily said, putting everyone back on track.

The room was silent for a few minutes.

"Honey, why did this happen?" Alison asked.

Zoe turned her head towards her mother.

" _Why_ did this have to happen?" She added.

Zoe still didn't want to tell her parents she was raped. Or that the girls were being stalked by A.

"You don't have to tell us now, but we hope you know that you can tell your mother and I anything." Emily said softly.

"I will. Just not now."

"In the meantime, we want you to see a therapist." Alison said.

"What? No!" Zoe half yelled/have not. Her voice went out in the middle of the words.

"You have a problem, Zoe! Don't you want to stop?"

"Of course I do!" Zoe responded back.

"Then you need a therapist. Your mother and I aren't the only ones who think so either." Alison said, looking over to Emily.

Zoe scrunched her eyebrows together. "Who else thinks so?"

Emily looked back at Zoe. "Your teacher, Ms. McCullers, came to us and said you were acting weird. We thought nothing of it, but i guess Paige was right."

Alison mumbled something under her breath. It sounded like, "Pigskin." Zoe didn't know what that meant.

Emily glared at her wife and looked back to Zoe. "You're seeing a therapist, Zoe. End of discussion."

Zoe threw her head back. "Okay." She mumbled.

Both mothers took turns kissing Zoe's forehead. "Victoria is here. She wants to speak with you."

Zoe sat straight up. "Why?"

"We'll let her tell you." On that cliffhanger, Emily and Alison left the room.

Zoe had a few moments to herself. She used this time to study the room.

Zoe immediately realized that she was in the hospital.

She lifted up her blanked and noticed that Zoe was dressed in the standard hospital gown that patients always wore.

She dropped the blanked and looked at the big machine to Zoe's right.

A tube shot out of it with a liquid being pumped through it. Zoe followed the tube with her eyes. It leads to Zoe's infected wrist.

It was the first time since the hallucinations that Zoe got a good look at it.

It was nasty. It was purple and gooey. It made Zoe gag. She put her arm down just as the door opened.

Victoria, the cop that always seemed to be around, entered the room.

"Are you the only cop in Rosewood?" Zoe asked.

Victoria laughed as she walked over to the bed. "You obviously know Toby."

Zoe rolled her eyes.

Victoria sat on the bed. "I take an interest in you and the other three. Every time I hear a case about one of you, I'm always the first to jump in on it."

"Why are you here, Victoria? It's not like I killed anyone. There isn't any need for a police officer."

"I'm here on a case that hasn't yet been closed."

Zoe looked at Victoria, extremely confused.

"Daniel." Victoria said, answering the look Zoe was giving.

Zoe's heart dropped. You could hear the beeps from the heart monitor jump out of tune.

"His month is over." Victoria said calmly.

Zoe opened her mouth to say something, but once again, her voice was lost.

"We can keep him longer if you tell us he's done anything else to you."

Zoe looked at Victoria. Did she know?

Zoe shook her head. "I'm scared of him, please don't let him out."

"We'll make sure he stays away from you, but we can't keep him in jail forever if he just hit you."

"I don't him to be in the same state as me!"

Victoria grabbed Zoe's hand and looked at Zoe in the eye.

"Zoe, did Daniel do anything else to you?" She said clearly.

Zoe stared right back. "No."

"Then there's nothing we can do. If you ever see him, then run." Victoria said getting up.

She walked over to the door and opened it.

Halfway out the door, she looked back at Zoe.

"Be careful kid."

Victoria closed the door and was gone.

Zoe grabbed her pillow and screamed into it.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you liked chapter 14!**

 **It was short, but a lot of stuff happened.**

 **I really hope you understood the hallucination part.**

 **I don't have much to say other than to keep reviewing and asking questions.**

 **Love you all!**

 **-Jessica**


	16. StAlker

**AN: Hello, it's me!**

 **Lol no.**

 **I love you all so much you don't understand!**

 **Kgc325 and Boris Yeltsin boothbonesrule all followed and favorited so thank you!**

 **Guest9 followed and Aria Photogirl favorited also!**

 **In response to Abbiexxx: The parents will find out about A soon. One of the girls will slip up.**

 **Okay, so I've gotten a lot of ideas from a lot of people and I love them!**

 **I'll give credit at the end of the chapter because we will meet a new character in this chapter so….. yea!**

 **Enjoy chapter 15!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars**

* * *

 **Two weeks later:**

The past few weeks have been strangely quiet. No texts, no attacks, no anything.

Well, at least for Kara.

Life felt kind of normal. She still tensed up when her phone buzzed, and Kara was still scared to be alone, but nothing terrible had happened.

But Kara wasn't going to let her guard down, for all she knew; A could be planning something big.

Zoe had asked for all the girls to spend the night at her house, and everyone agreed to go. They all still wanted to figure out who A was. Or they wanted to at least find _something._

Kara's thought were interrupted by her father's heavy footsteps thumping down the stairs. He was carrying a small bag.

"Are you going somewhere?" Kara asked right away.

"Hello to you too." Caleb said, walking over to Kara.

Kara rolled her eyes and gave her father an emotionless face.

"I'm going to be gone till late tonight." Caleb said in defeat.

Kara already knew the answer, but she still felt the need to ask, "Why?"

"Work." He said.

Of course. For the past couple of nights, Kara's dad had been out super late from work. Kara had no idea why. Yea, Caleb worked with computers and that is some pretty complicated stuff, but why do you need to spend a whole night doing whatever needs to be done.

That's another strange thing. Caleb has never mentioned to Kara what specifically he does with computers. She just assumed he fixed them, but she has been doubted it.

"What are you working on? You haven't been getting home till really late for the last couple of nights."

"I just have to do some work for a client."

"Duh."

"I can't really talk about it, but it has something to do with surveillance footage."

"Fair enough."

Caleb threw the bag over his shoulder and looked at Kara. "Can I leave now?"

Kara laughed at her dad. "Get out of her."

He smiled at her and gave Kara a hug. "I love you." He said.

"I love you too." Kara said, closing her eyes and embracing the hug.

"I'll be back later tonight." Caleb said when they broke apart.

"I know. Now get going, I don't want you to be late." Kara said, shoving her dad towards the door.

Once at the door, Kara loosened her grip and Caleb turned around.

He leaned down and kissed Kara on the forehead. Without a word spoken, he was out the door, in his car, and driving out the street.

Kara watched as her father drove away.

More footsteps came from the stairs. When Kara turned around, it was her mother.

"Did you say goodbye to dad?" Kara asked.

"Yup." Hanna said casually.

Kara walked over to her mom. "Do you know what he's doing?"

"Work, duh." Hanna said dumbly.

Kara looked at her mom and crossed her arms. "That's not what I meant."

Hanna looked down and started to fiddle with the fringes on her shirt.

"Mom?" Kara asked. There was something Hanna wasn't telling her.

Hanna grabbed Kara's hand and led her over to the couch.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Kara asked with great concern.

Hanna let out a shaky breath and looked at her daughter. "I don't know what he's doing."

Kara looked at her mom sympathetically. "I'm sure it's not anything dangerous."

Hanna shook her head. "It just worries me. He leaves and doesn't come back till late and I'm scared he's doing something he shouldn't. He's always had this thing with hacking into certain things and when I had you, he promised he wouldn't do anything illegal because you needed a dad who would always be there, not a father that you didn't even know and was in jail. I'm worried that he's back to his old habits and the fact that he won't tell me anything makes it seem almost positive that he's back to his old habits again." Hanna had tears flowing down her cheeks after she finished rambling.

Kara lifted her hand to her mother cheek and wiped away the tears with her thumb. "He is _not_ doing anything to hurt this family. You didn't marry some psycho who only wanted you for your body. You married Caleb Rivers. The definition of perfection."

Hanna smiled at her daughter. "I know." Tears continued to stroll down Hanna's face.

"Why are you still crying then?" Kara asked, putting a hand on her mother's back.

"I really need him right now."

Kara looked her mother in the eye with great seriousness. "Why? What's going on?"

Hanna took a deep breath and straightened her back. "I never thought I'd say these words again. I thought the only time I would it would be from your mouth."

Kara's heart began to race. "Mom?"

Hanna wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at her daughter. "I'm late."

Kara's shoulder fell. "Late? As in your period being late?"

Hanna nodded her head.

"How? When?" Kara asked, unable to look at her mother.

"It was a while ago, you were at Anna's house. She was still under house arrest and you wanted to surprise her with Rose and Zoe."

Kara had tears forming in the back of her eyes. "Do you know for sure?"

"No. I was going to get a test just now but then you stopped me."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kara asked.

"No. I don't even want to go myself." Hanna said, throwing her head back.

Kara nodded her head in response to her thought. "Okay, you stay here. I'll be back in twenty minutes." She said, standing up.

Hanna lifted her head back up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to get a test for you."

Hanna stood up. "No! People will look at you weird!"

"People will look at you weird too!"

It was silent for a moment.

"You can't stop me." Kara said strongly.

Hanna, in defeat said, "At least let me give you money for it."

Kara agreed to that and accepted the twenty dollars her mom handed her. She grabbed her keys and turned to her mom. "I'll be back soon." Then, Kara walked out the door.

* * *

Kara walked around until she found the area with the pregnancy sticks. She stared at them. Kara had no idea what one to buy, there were so many.

She grabbed the most expensive one and walked to the pharmacy checkout.

Kara rolled her eyes when it was closed. She now had to make the long way back to the front of the store with a pregnancy stick in her hands.

As she made her way to the cash registers, she got many stares. She didn't want to stop and say that the test was for her mom, because that was even stranger. A lot of people in Rosewood knew Hanna Rivers. Hanna was the prettiest woman that Kara had ever seen in her life, but it was obvious that she was too old to have a baby.

The only register open was with a middle aged man. He scanned the item and looked at Kara. "Condoms are in the back next time."

Kara said nothing angrily and slammed the twenty dollar bill into the man's hand and she got a few dollars in change. Kara grabbed the brown paper bag that the man put the test into and stomped out. Kara wished that she would never have to do that again until she was older and married.

Kara grabbed her key and pressed the unlock button. For some stupid reason, the door wouldn't open. Kara groaned and tried to get the literal key from the key.

"Kara?"

Kara looked to where her name was called. Owen.

"Oh god." She mumbled when she saw him. She frantically tried to retrieve her key but failed.

"Ouch." Owen said when he walked over.

Kara put the bag behind her back and looked at her boyfriend. "Hey, sorry. I'm just not in a good mood."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?" Owen asked with general concern.

"You can unlock my car." Kara said, shoving her key into Owen's hand.

Owen set his bag down and tried to unlock the manual key. As he fumbled with it he asked, "So, what did you buy?"

The blood rushed from Kara's face. "Nothing."

Owen stared at Kara in disbelief. "Well now I'm curious."

"It's nothing important. Did you get the key yet?" Kara asked, trying to change the subject.

Owen handed Kara the key and asked one more time, "Kara, what' in the bag?"

Kara backed up frantically. "Nothing, I just want to go home-" Kara stopped when she hit her elbow on her rear view mirror. At the impact, Kara dropped the bag. With her luck, the test slid out.

Owen, being the gentleman he is, reached down to pick up the fallen item. When he stood up, he had a hurt look on his face.

"Kara?" He asked.

"Owen, no, it's not-" Owen interrupted Kara.

"Kara, don't even start. You obviously cheated on me because we've never- you know, done it." He stopped for a second. Kara took this opportunity to jump in, but never got to speak. "It all makes sense. You've been so distant lately." Owen groaned at started ti rub his forehead.

Kara jumped in quickly when he stopped. "Owen it's not for me!"

He looked at Kara, confused. "What?"

Kara grabbed the test angrily, opened the car door and threw it in there. "It's for my mom. She was too embarrassed to get it so I volunteered and you happened to catch me. And I would never cheat on you, I'm not like that!"

"It's not for you?" Owen asked.

"No. I've never 'done it' it general" Kara revealed.

Owen let out a huge breath. "Okay good! I mean, obviously, there is nobody like me, why would you want to be with somebody else than me?" he said cockily, but sarcastically. "I mean I would help because the douche that knocked you up probably wouldn't have helped and I love you so, please don't be mad at me."

Kara stared at Owen and smiled. "You love me?"

"Well now that it's out, yeah, I do love you." Owen said, his face bright red. "I didn't plan for it to come out that way though; I was going to have a nice romantic dinner or something that went with it."

Kara's heart skipped a beat. She threw her hands around Owen neck and kissed him passionately. "I love you too." She whispered when they broke apart.

Kara could feel Owen lips form into a smile. After a few minutes in Owen's arms, Kara remembered why she was even here. She jumped back and said. "I have to get back to my mom."

Owen smiled and said, "Okay, good luck."

Kara smiled back and said. "I love you."

"Love you too." Owen then picked up his bag and walked to his car.

Kara then got in her car and started to drive home. She would have to thank her mom. If it weren't for the fetus that may or may not be inside Hanna's belly, Owen wouldn't have told Kara he loved her. Sure, they would say it eventually, but there was something about the awkward situation and Owen chose the perfect time to say it.

* * *

"Good luck." Kara said when she handed her mother the box.

Hanna grabbed it and took a deep breath in and out. Hanna turned the box around and started to inspect the directions.

"Stop stalling, you've done this before and know how to take a dang pregnancy test! Now go pee!" Kara yelled at her mother.

"Okay fine, I'm going." Hanna said, heading to the nearest bathroom.

After you peed on the stick, you had to wait a minute until you got the results. The minuet standing outside the bathroom was the longest minuet of Kara's life.

Kara eventually heard a quite sob, but she couldn't tell if it was a good or bad sob.

"Is that good or bad?" Kara asked through the door. She put her ear to the door when she heard no response. The sound coming from the bathroom sounded like it could either be laughing or crying. "Mom!" Kara called.

Kara stumbled when the door opened. She looked her mother in the eye. "Well?"

Hanna handed her daughter the stick. Kara grabbed it and looked at the symbol on the stick. It was a negative sign.

Kara threw the stick behind her back and hugged her mom. They both cried in belief. "That's two good things today." Kara said into her mother's chest.

Hanna broke the hug and held onto Kara's shoulders. Eyes still puffy from tears of happiness, Hanna said, "What was so good about today?"

"When I was buying the test I ran into Owen in the parking lot. Long story short he found out about the pregnancy test and started to accuse me of cheating because Owen and I have never done that."

Hanna shook her head. "How is it good that he accused you?"

Kara smiled at the memory of the three words. "He told me that he would still care for me because the guy who knocked me up probably wouldn't have helped and because _he loved me_ he would help." Kara emphasized the three words.

"He said he loved you?" Hanna asked, shocked. Kara nodded her head.

"What did you say back?"

"I said I loved him too."

Hanna smiled and hugged her daughter. "Well you're welcome for sending you to the store!" Hanna said.

"Mom, when did you and dad first say that you loved each other?" Kara asked.

"We better sit down for that." Hanna said, nodding over to the couch.

When both were sitting comfortably, Hanna began. "This is actually kind of sad. I kept trying to convince Caleb to talk to his mom, your grandma, and he did. She wanted to see him so he decided that he would go to California where she lived and stay there for a while. He came to me and said goodbye. It was one of the hardest moments of my life, I knew keeping the relationship was going to be hard. While he was walking out I told him I loved him. He said it right back. Then he was gone." Tears were beginning to form in Hanna's eyes.

Kara had tears in her eyes too. "But he came back."

Hanna sniffled. "He did."

Hanna and Caleb where the perfect couple and Kara wished that she and Owen would be that too.

Nothing could ruin this moment between Kara and her mom, but she could think of one thing that could make it better.

Just like Hanna's story, Kara wanted Caleb to come back.

* * *

Zoe's first day of therapy was today. She had only been in the hospital for one day when she had the infection two weeks ago. The huge cut on Zoe's wrist wasn't gross looking anymore, but it was starting to scar. That scar would be there for the rest of Zoe's life.

Zoe had cut three more times since they day she almost died. She wants to stop so badly, but it's like an addiction. Zoe made sure she was never deep enough to cut her vein.

She probably would've cut more, but Emily and Alison where more aware of Zoe. They still urged her to tell them why she cut in the first place, but Zoe still wasn't ready.

None of the girls had visited Zoe in the hospital only because they didn't know. Zoe was in and out so fast. Of course, when Zoe was out and the girls found out they all felt terrible, especially Anna. She felt guilty, but Zoe reassured her that it was Zoe's fault for cutting in the first place.

Zoe thought of this as she ran a final brush through her hair. She stared at herself until she heard Emily call for her.

When Zoe walked down the stairs, Emily was waiting for her.

"You ready?" She asked.

"I can drive myself." Zoe reminded.

"I know, but I just want to make sure you actually go."

Zoe said nothing and walked out the front door to her mother's car. The drive to the therapy office was silent. Emily parked in the nearest open parking spot. Zoe reached for the handle, but before she could open the door Emily locked the car.

"Mom, what are you-" Zoe was interrupted.

"I'm giving you one last chance to tell me what is going on with you." Emily said, turning her head to look at Zoe.

Zoe looked back at her mom, but didn't answer back until a few seconds went by. "I will eventually, but not now."

"That gets me so worried about you, Zoe! Something awful has happened to you and you're too frightened to tell your mother and me!"

"I understand that, but at least let me get help first."

Emily hesitated, but eventually unlocked the car. Zoe exited the car and entered the building. She walked up to the front desk to speak with an older fat woman.

"Name?" She asked in a scratchy voice.

"Zoe DiLafields." Zoe answered.

The old woman piled through a stack of papers until she saw Zoe's name.

"You're going to be on the third floor, room 318. Wait in the lobby until they call your name."

Zoe gave a quite thank you and headed for the elevator. She was the only one in there and she was grateful. Zoe was terrified. Therapists are easy to trust, and Zoe didn't want to spill all of her secrets. At least not right away. Zoe had to gain a sense of trust.

The elevator dinged and Zoe stepped out. She walked up to another desk and gave her name to a new woman. They lady said the same things as the first one, so Zoe sat down in an empty chair.

Nobody else was in the lobby and Zoe was happy for the silence. She closed her eyes and waited for her name to be called.

A door opened and Zoe expected it to be someone who would tell Zoe that the therapist was ready, but it was some boy.

He did the same thing as Zoe; he walked to the desk and said his name to the lady, and sat down. Zoe noticed he had a slight limp.

He sat down in a chair across from Zoe. Zoe looked at the ground; she didn't want to make any eye contact.

Minuets passed and still, nobody had been called. Zoe lifted her head up and looked at the boy. He had blonde hair, like Zoe, that was on the longer side.

Zoe continued to stare at him. He shot his eyes up and caught Zoe staring at him.

She put her head down when his deep green eyes made contact with her brown ones.

"Zoe DiLafields?" The lady at the desk called.

Zoe stood up when her name was called.

"You can head to room 318 now." The lady said.

Zoe nodded her head and walked to the long hallway of rooms, thankful that she didn't have to be in the same room as the boy anymore.

She found room 318 and entered. Inside was a desk, a long couch, and a woman. She was probably in her late twenties or early thirties. She looked innocent. Like nothing in the world could harm her. Zoe was jealous of that. The woman was tall, and had long auburn hair and warm brown eyes.

When Zoe entered the room and made eye contact with the woman, she sent a warm smile over to Zoe. Zoe tried to smile back, but it felt fake. The lady would obviously be able to tell.

"Zoe, right?" She asked.

Zoe nodded her head and looked over to the therapist's name slate resting on the desk. She had some really complicated last name that Zoe would never be able to pronounce.

"You can just call me Amanda." She said, standing up to shake hands with Zoe. Zoe accepted Amanda's hand. Zoe was wearing a short sleeve shirt, and Amanda could see Zoe's scars.

"You can take a seat on the couch now." Amanda said.

Zoe nodded her head and walked over to the couch. It wasn't one of those weird ones in the movies that people laid down on and some guy sat next to it in a chair taking notes, it was a normal couch.

Amanda pulled up a chair and sat across from Zoe. She studied Zoe; she stared her down and looked right into Zoe's face.

After what seemed like forever, she asked, "What are you thinking right now."

Zoe answered right away. "That I don't want to be here."

"Why?"

"Because I don't feel like spilling my guts out to a stranger."

Amanda sat back and laughed. "You won't feel that way soon enough."

Zoe crossed her arms and stared at Amanda.

"I noticed the cuts on your wrists. You have obviously been through some traumatizing things, haven't you?"

Zoe nodded her head.

Amanda brought her hand to her chin. Zoe guessed that this was her thinking face.

"You have two moms right?"

Zoe, once again, nodded.

"You have three amazing friends who would do anything for you, is this correct?"

"Yes." Zoe said quietly.

"Would you do anything for them?" Amanda asked.

"Of course. I love them." Zoe said sharply.

"Does your family make you happy?"

"Most of the time."

"When are you not happy with them?"

Zoe uncrossed her arms and sat up. "Well, there's the fact that I just now found out after seventeen years who my dad is, who was my uncle by the way, and my biological mother knew! Well, not really, my dad used a fake name, but still! She never even bothered to tell me the fake name."

"Why do you think your mother wouldn't tell you?"

"I don't know, what does this have anything to do with the fact that I want to stop cutting?"

"Before we can get to the stopping, we have to accept the problem."

Zoe took a deep breath.

Amanda tilted her chin up. "Do your friends make you happy?"

"There just about the only positive thing in my life right now."

"What do they do that make you happy?"

"It's the fact that they don't judge me. I can tell them _anything_ , and they can easily brush past it. We've all been through so much that we don't take the time to judge."

"Ah-ha!" Amanda said enthusiastically.

Zoe was shocked at the sudden outburst. "What?"

"Through all the questions, I got something."

Zoe still didn't understand.

"You and your friends have been through some stuff? That's what you said."

"Yeah we have."

"Then how come they don't inflict self-harm."

"We all go through our own dose of torture. Mine happened to dig in a little deeper." Zoe said, her voice shaking at the realization that she was the weakest link.

"What is this 'torture'?"

"I don't feel comfortable telling you." Zoe said back quickly.

"Why not?"

"The memory makes me anxious; and sad and I don't want to be sad. That's why I'm here. I'm here to stop cutting because it's my only escape."

"You're here because you have to face you're fear." Amanda said slowly.

"I don't want to."

Amanda put down the notepad she was holding and looked at Zoe sympathetically. "Tell me three things you love."

Zoe looked at Amanda with a questioning look.

"Zoe, tell me three things in your life that you love."

"My friends, My parents, and…" It took Zoe a few seconds to think of the third answer. "My razor." She said eventually.

Amanda looked at Zoe with no emotion. "Why?"

"My friends help me as best they can, my parents love me no matter what, and my razor relieves the stress and pain in my life."

"Are you positive with your answers?"

"One-hundred percent." Zoe said confidentially.

"You're here to stop cutting right?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll have to make a sacrifice and get rid of one of the things you love."

Zoe's eyes began to water. "I don't think I can live without it."

"You won't live _with_ it!" Amanda said sharply.

This caught Zoe off guard.

"Did you expect that?" Amanda asked, a little softer.

"No." Zoe said in a crackly voice.

"That razor can end your life, Zoe. It's already almost happened. So many people would suffer if you died. So many people care about you and you don't realize it! If the problem is neglect, you are wrong."

Zoe shook her head. "That's not the problem."

Amanda stood up and extended her hand out to Zoe. "Your session is over. I'll see you in a week."

Zoe took Amanda's hand and stood up. The hour spent with Amanda went by a lot faster than Zoe thought it would.

She was grateful to be going home though. Amanda was good with Zoe. She could make Zoe feel.

Zoe exited the room and wiped a few tears as she entered the lobby.

"First session?" A voice asked when Zoe turned the corner.

Zoe stumbled backwards at the sudden sound.

When Zoe regained herself, she looked at the speaker. It was the boy in the lobby.

Zoe looked at him angrily and said, "Yes."

The boy put his hands in his pockets and nodded at Amanda's door. "It's good that you got Amanda. She's the best one here."

"I thought she was a little rough."

"That's because she's telling you the truth and you don't want to hear it."

"She can fix that?" Zoe asked.

"Depends. What are you here for?"

Zoe stared at him. She wasn't going to tell him anything, Zoe didn't even know his name.

It was almost as if the boy had read Zoe's mind because he said, "My bad. I shouldn't ask. My name is Cory. Cory Tebbs." He then extended his hand for Zoe to shake.

Zoe looked at it and brought her eyes back up to Cory's. She denied the hand and pushed past him.

Zoe walked to the door and ignored Cory. As she pushed the door open, Zoe heard him call. "See you next week!"

Zoe rolled her eyes and stepped into the elevator. The ride was quite, but when Zoe stepped out, she was met with a familiar face.

"Victoria?" Zoe said, confused.

Victoria looked up from her clipboard and smiled at Zoe.

"Hey, Zoe! I didn't know you came here." Victoria said enthusiastically.

Despite the fact that the last time she and Victoria talked was awkward, Zoe wanting to be nice, since Victoria was a cop after all, so she said casually, "Today's my first day. Why are you here?"

"Every once and a while I have to come here and look at everyone's records. Count up how many cases of depression and things like that. We of course don't pay attention to names though."

Zoe nodded her head and fake smiled. "My mom is waiting for me so I should get going."

"Go ahead, don't let me keep you." She said.

Zoe stepped passed Victoria and walked outside and into into Emily's car.

* * *

Rose wanted nothing more than to see what was on the flash drive. She was tempted several times but always decided not to open the file.

The past few weeks had been weirdly quite. Rose suspected this had to do with not telling anyone about the flash drive.

Rose paced her room, flash drive in hand. She looked over to her laptop and the curiosity kicked in.

Rose sat down and plugged the flash drive into the laptop and waited for the file to load up. It was labeled with a bunch of random numbers that Rose didn't understand, but it was the only file on the flash drive.

Rose took a deep breath and clicked on it. The first thing that caught Rose's attention was her room.

She looked closer at the footage and noticed that she was looking at herself live. Rose could see the back of her, facing the laptop.

She frantically turned around but nothing was there. Rose turned back to the camera and studied it. It looked like the camera was pointed directly behind her.

Rose picked up the laptop and made her way to the wall. When Rose was looking at her face through the laptop, she began searching. There was nothing on the wall that the camera could hide behind. The only thing close was Rose's bookshelf.

Rose looked at the bookshelf. She looked behind each book but saw nothing.

Where was the damn camera?

Rose's eyes were drawn to the dusty shelf. This row was full of books that Rose had already read, so she never paid attention to it.

There was a small gap between two of the books. Rose took out the books and saw a small camera.

"Caught you, bastard." Rose said with a smirk. She grabbed the camera and held it in her hand. It was super small and it was as big as the space between Rose's fingers.

She placed the camera on her desk and grabbed the heaviest book Rose had. She lifted the book up high and dropped it on the camera. Rose watched at the footage on the laptop turned black. She chuckled at the sight.

Rose pressed the back button on the laptop. Her jaw dropped when she saw the hundreds of others screens, all showing live footage.

There was a camera in almost every room of Rose's house. Not just Rose's, all of the girl's houses. From the cameras, Rose could see Kara talking with her mom in her living room couch, Anna looked like she was in a heated argument with both her parents in the kitchen, Brendon was in his room with his headphones on, probably trying to block out the noise of Anna and their parents. The only person in Zoe's house was Alison. She was pacing down the hallway that connected the kitchen to the living room, phone in hand. She was probably talking to Emily.

Rose, not wanting to snoop, focused on the videos of her house only. She would destroy all the camera's, and then somehow destroy all the cameras in her friend's houses without them noticing. Rose was too scared to tell anyone about the footage. There was still the threat A had put on Rose.

Rose started off with the camera in the hallway outside her room. Rose searched until she stood in front of the mirror on the wall. There was a fancy black design along the mirror and the black camera was hidden cleverly inside the design. Rose ripped it out and smashed the book on it.

Rose then made her way to the kitchen. The camera angle was at an angle that faced straight down. Rose stared up at the ceiling and saw nothing. Only the fancy chandelier hung from the tall ceiling. It clicked that the camera had to be up there in the chandelier somewhere. To confirm this, Rose took a piece of paper and crumpled it up into a ball. She threw it at the chandelier and saw on the camera the paper get extremely close.

Rose sighed as she looked at the chandelier. It was high up. First thing you should know about Rose was that she was short. The shortest of the four girls actually. There was no way that she would be able to reach that camera.

Rose would have to try.

She pulled out a chair and angled it under the chandelier. When Rose stood on it, she was still nowhere near the chandelier. She groaned and looked for something taller. Rose remembered this old stool thing that her mother has. It was in her parent's bedroom, so Rose ran up there to go get it. It wasn't as big as she thought, but stacked on top of the chair, Rose would be able to reach the chandelier.

She grabbed the old thing and trudged down the stairs. Now back in the kitchen, Rose staked the stool on the chair. It was incredibly unstable. But then again, so was A's mind, and she had to get the maniac's cameras out of her house.

Rose managed to stand on top of the chair/stool and was now reaching for the chandelier. Rose wiggled around but she managed to keep her balance. Getting back on task, she began to search for the camera. She found it at the very top of the chandelier. It was a little bit bigger than all the other cameras and it was just out of Rose's reach. She extended her arm till it hurt. She kept trying but it was no use. Rose made the dangerous decision to stand on her tip toes.

Mistake.

She lost her balance and flung from the chair. When Rose landed, it was on her right side. She heard something crack and felt a sharp pain enter her side near the hip.

Rose let out a loud scream of pain. She looked to her hip and started to see blood bleed through her shirt. Rose sat up and pulled up her shirt. A shard of glass was lodged into her hip. Rose looked for the source of the glass shard and saw the camera lying close to Rose on the floor. She must've knocked it over when she fell and landed on it.

Rose carefully grabbed at the glass sticking out from her side and pulled it out. She whimpered in pain. The glass in Rose's side was a lot bigger than she thought.

She grabbed at her side and made her way to the medicine cabinet. She rummaged through it one handed and looked for a something to stop the bleeding.

Rose was getting frustrated. She didn't find anything and she was only making a huge mess.

Rose lifted up her shirt again and watched blood ooze from the small gash. She felt she was going to faint but snapped back when the doorbell rang.

Rose stood still and stayed silent. She would not answer the door. Whoever was there would question the chair lying on its side, the stool not too far from the chair, the broken glass on the floor and the bleeding girl.

The person rang the doorbell again. When that didn't work, the knocked.

Rose prayed that they would go away soon. Her eyes were growing black around the edges and she felt like she would pass out soon if she didn't stop the bleeding.

Rose used her free hand and gripped the counter. It was getting hard to stand.

"Rose?" She heard someone call from outside the door.

She recognized the voice immediately. It was Zak.

Rose fumbled her way to the door and opened it.

"Why didn't you answer the- Oh my god, you're bleeding!" Zak said, quickly noticing the shirt that was soaked with blood.

Rose grabbed Zak's shirt and tried to pull him in the door, but she was so weak she failed miserably.

Zak entered the house and picked Rose up. He sat her down on the kitchen table.

"Where's your medical stuff?" He asked frantically. Rose pointed to the open cabinet and he ran over there. He ran over with some stuff and pulled up Rose's shirt. Rose closed her eyes as she felt Zak's hands work on Rose's hip.

Soon enough, the feeling of Zak's hands were gone, signaling he was done.

When Rose opened her eyes, she saw her kitchen was spotless. The chair was back where it belonged, the stool was gone, the glass shards were cleaned out, and there were no signs of blood anywhere.

Zak stood at the medicine cabinet, putting the things he used back.

"Thanks." Rose said.

Zak stopped what he was doing and looked over at Rose.

"No problem." He responded.

Rose tried her best to sit up, but it hurt so much. Zak walked over and grabbed Rose's shoulders and guided her up.

"Be careful." He said. "You don't want to strain yourself."

Rose looked at her shirt. It was still blood stained. "Can we burn this?" Rose asked.

Zak chuckled.

"I'm serious." Rose said sternly.

"If your that serious, I'll burn it." Zak said with a soft smile. Rose smiled back.

Zak reached behind Rose and handed her a t-shirt. "While you were sleeping I went in your room and grabbed you this." He said, handing it to Rose.

She took it gratefully and ripped the bloody shirt off. She didn't care that Zak was right in front of her; she just wanted the thing off. Rose looked at her expose hip. She didn't know what Zak had done, but he covered it up with up with some cloth."

Now in a clean shirt, Rose was a lot more comfortable.

"You'll have to change that every few hours." Zak said, pulling up a chair and placing it in front of the kitchen table. He sat on it and he was now eye level with Rose, who was still sitting on the table.

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"I fell." Rose replied, kind of telling the truth.

"What were you doing? And where did the glass come from?"

Rose looked at the floor. She would have to say that she was reaching for a camera that A had hidden. She would then have to explain that she saw it from the flash drive, and that would cause conflict with A.

Zak grabbed Rose's hand when she didn't reply. "Rose, answer me! I was terrified when I saw you bleeding out, you're lucky I didn't take you to the hospital! You would be telling doctors how you got glass lodged into your side instead of me. Please, tell me."

"You'll protect me?"

"Of course." Zak said instantly.

Rose took a deep breath. "A few weeks ago, A attacked me. They tried to suffocate me in my basement. I fought them off and they dropped something. A flash drive. They threatened that if I told anyone they would hurt me. I didn't tell anyone, but earlier today I looked on the flash drive and turns out A has been spying on us. They have cameras around all of our houses. I was destroying the cameras and one was on the chandelier and I couldn't reach it, so I stacked the chair and the stool to reach it. I fell and I must've knocked the camera off and landed on it. The glass came from the lens."

"That bastard won't touch you. If they do, I'll kill them." Zak said strongly.

"Don't say that." Rose said.

"A hurting you feels like a million stabs in my heart and if something else happens to you, I'll make them feel the same pain."

Rose leaned forwards into Zak's arms. He wrapped his arms around Zoe and kissed the top of her head.

"Where are the rest of the cameras?" He asked.

"I don't know. I was using the laptop to find them."

Zak released Rose and helped her up. He led her to the couch and set her there. He then picked up Rose's laptop and began searching for the rest of the cameras.

"I won't stop until all the cameras in here are destroyed."

Zak looked at the laptop and made his way to the first camera.

Rose watched him disappear around the corner. Even though the camera in the room was destroyed, Rose still felt like she was being watched.

* * *

"I don't know, Anna!" Brendon said, frustrated.

Anna put down the homemade flashcard. "You have to try, Brendon."

"I am trying!" Brendon said, putting his head in his hands.

Anna looked at her frustrated brother. "Okay, enough with math." She said.

Anna had a pretty good idea on what was going on with Brendon. To test this, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. On the paper she wrote "dog."

"What does this say?" Anna asked, holding up the paper for Brendon. He lifted up his head and looked at the paper. He hesitated before he said, "Dog?"

"Yes." Anna said. Now for a harder word. Anna wrote it down and showed it to Brendon.

It was a while until he said, "I don't know."

"It says calendar." Anna said, writing a new word. She showed it to him.

Immediately he said, "Is that even a word?"

"It says Bamboozled." Anna said. She then put the paper and pen down. She was pretty sure she knew what was wrong.

"I think I know." Anna said.

Brendon put his head back in hands and mumbled, "What?"

"Your dyslexic." She said firmly.

Brendon put his head back up. "I'm what?"

"Dyslexic. Your brain mixes up certain letters so it's harder for you to read."

"Are you positive that I am?"

Anna chuckled. "No. We'll have to tell mom and dad to take you to get a test."

He groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Yeah. If we don't get this confirmed, you won't get any special treatment and learning will be extremely difficult."

"I don't want special treatment!" Brendon said angrily.

Anna looked at her brother sympathetically. "You're going to need a little so you can graduate."

"Okay, but... can you tell mom and dad for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell them that I have suspicions."

Brendon got up and hugged his sister. "Thanks. I'll be in my room. Only get me if there's an emergency, I really don't feel like talking to anyone."

"Fine." Anna said. Brendon then got up and walked up the stairs to his room.

Anna watched as he closed his door. Anna got up and made her way over to the kitchen. She walked in and saw her parents both in there.

"Hey." She called.

"Hey." Her mother called. Toby just glared at Anna.

He has been doing this for the past few weeks. Ever since he saw Dylan's jacket on Anna's bedroom floor, he's been mad at her. He probably put it together and realized that Anna and Dylan had sex.

Anna just wished Toby would get over it. Yeah, Anna could take the glares, but the few times that Dylan had been over had been extremely awkward. Toby would always be near the two and gave stares to Dylan to.

Anna remembered why she was here and walked over and sat at the kitchen table. She sat opposite her parents.

"I need to tell you guys something." Anna said, trying to get the news out fast. She wanted to get this over with and head to Zoe's house and meet up with the other three girls.

Spencer and Toby looked up at their daughter. You could tell that they were both mad at Anna.

"Okay, I know you are mad at me for not telling you about Dylan and dad had to find out through the jacket, but you need to get over it." Anna said, trying to get her parent's forgiveness.

"You're too young to be doing that stuff." Spencer said to Anna.

"Do you expect me to believe that you and dad didn't do the exact same things as me when you were my age?"

Both parents got angrier looks on their faces. "You still didn't need to hide it." Toby said.

"Obviously I did! You two look at me like I'm trash!" Anna yelled.

Spencer and Toby were silent. "You're not trash." Toby said.

"We just think that you and Dylan were in to short of a relationship to do that. You barley even know him." Spencer finished.

"You don't know anything about Dylan! He knows all he needs to know and I trust him!" Anna said, getting annoyed.

"Is this what you wanted to tell us?" Spencer asked.

"No." Anna said. "It's about Brendon."

Both parents now looked concerned. "What about him?" Toby asked.

Anna felt a little hurt that Spencer and Toby's mood had completely changed to worry when Anna mentioned Brendon. Did they not notice that she was hurt?

"You two need to take him to the doctor. I'm pretty sure he has dyslexia."

Spencer looked confused. "Dyslexia?"

"Yea, he came to me a few weeks ago claiming he was stupid and something was wrong with him. Ever since then I've been trying to figure out why it was so hard for him to understand things. I've narrowed it down to dyslexia."

The parents in a state of shock said nothing.

"Just check it out okay." Anna said.

"We will. Thanks, Anna." Spencer said.

Anna nodded and turned around to head for her room.

"Where are you going?" Toby asked.

Anna turned back around. "I'm going to Zoe's tonight. Rose, Kara, Zoe and I all want to catch up."

Spencer looked at Toby and sent him a look that said "should we let her go?. Anna knew what they were wondering if she would sneak off to see Dylan so she said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to see Dylan."

They still looked like they were going to tell Anna not to go to see Zoe, Kara and Rose.

"I won't sleep with them either." Anna said, trying to ease the tension. It only made it worse so Anna left the room quickly and got ready for Zoe's.

She was ready and in her car after ten minutes.

* * *

"Nothing has happened to you guys either?" Kara asked.

Anna, along with the rest of the girls shook their heads.

"Do you think A is done with us?" Kara asked.

"Absolutely not." Anna answered. There was no way that A would give up that easily.

"Well, I want to enjoy the time without A breathing down our backs so can we please talk about something other than A?" Kara asked.

Anna turned to Zoe and asked. "You had your first therapy session today right? How did that go?"

Zoe rubbed her neck and answered. "Pretty bad actually."

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"My therapist, Amanda, made me feel guilty."

"How is it your fault that you were raped and the only solution in your eyes was cutting?" Rose said. She was really quite tonight. She wasn't talking much and just kept looking around the room.

"She put the weight on my shoulders that if I keep cutting, I'll eventually die and if I do I'll hurt so many people." Zoe replied, not really looking at anyone in particular.

"That's kind of true." Kara said dumbly.

Anna reached over and hit her on the arm. Kara looked at Anna and mouthed the word "ouch."

"It is not your fault. If you told Amanda why you were cutting maybe she'll ease up on you and help you." Anna said.

"I'm not telling her about Daniel any time soon. But the guilt kind of worked. I haven't cut since this morning, before I saw the shrink."

"Well maybe it's working in some weird way." Anna said softly. She then sent a warm smile over to Zoe.

"And there was also this weird guy. He was in the lobby with me and he kept trying to figure out what I was in for. He sounded generally concerned but it was still strange."

"What's his name? Is it cute?" Kara asked.

"Cory." Zoe responded.

"Hmn. I like it." Kara said.

Zoe laughed and asked Kara. "So what's been going on with you?"

"Nothing really. My life is boring without you guys. But today was strange."

"Why, what happened?" Zoe asked.

"Well, my dad had to leave for work and he wasn't going to get back till late, so I said by to him and my mom comes down the stairs. She was all sad that my dad has been out really late for the past few months and she admitted that her period was late."

"Your mom is pregnant?!" Anna interrupted. All the girls looked shocked.

"No, Anna, calm down. She wasn't sure so I went to the store and got her a test, but in the parking lot I ran into Owen. He saw the test and started to freak out. He accused me of cheating and…" Kara stopped and a smiled.

"…he said he loved me." She finished.

"Oh, Kara, really?" Anna said, happy for Kara.

"It was really awkward but he got it out and I've been happy ever since. There was also the bonus that I wasn't going to be a big sister." Kara said.

"I'm happy for you Kara." Anna said.

"Me too." Added Zoe.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom." Rose said. She got up and wattled out of Zoe's bedroom.

"That's the second time tonight." Zoe said.

"What is up with her?" Kara asked.

"We'll get it out of her eventually." Anna said.

"So, Anna, it's your turn. What happened to you?"

"Nothing major. I found out Brendon had dyslexia or something. He has trouble with reading and oh yeah, my parents hate my guts." Anna said.

Zoe and Kara's facial expressions changed with the end of Anna's sentence.

"What?" Kara asked.

"They look at me with displeasure. When I tried to tell them about Brendon, they gave me stares and didn't fail to make me feel bad."

"Do you know why they might be mad at you?" Zoe asked.

"I know why." Anna said.

"Well apologize for it, take it back." Kara said.

"I can't take it back." Anna said, she smiled to herself.

"Anna? What did you do?" Kara asked. She noticed Anna's smile.

"My parent's look at me like trash because they can't accept the fact that I'm an adult and can make decisions on my own. There all mad at me because I didn't tell them about this "huge thing" when it's none of their business. They shouldn't care that Dylan and I had sex, it's stupid and…" Anna stopped herself when she saw Zoe and Kara's jaws drop.

"What?" Kara asked in a high pitched tone.

Anna threw her head back and grunted. "I didn't want you guys to find out like that."

"Find out what?" Rose said when she returned.

"Anna and Dylan had sex!" Kara said, still in disbelief.

"You what?!" Rose said with the same amount of shock as Kara.

"When did this happen?" Zoe asked.

"Around the same time the A texts stopped." Anna answered.

"You went two weeks and never told us!" Kara said.

"I wanted to tell you guys in a better way."

"Anna, this is important! You're the first in the group to do it!"

"Well…" Zoe muttered.

Kara turned to Zoe. "Sorry. The first that was willing."

"That makes it a lot better." Zoe said sarcastically. Kara leaned over and hugged Zoe. "I'm sorry." She said.

Zoe smiled and hugged back. "You're forgiven."

"Enough of me. How are things with you, Rose?"

"Quite." She said. She was lying, Anna could tell.

"Nope. That's not good enough. What's got you all distant?" Anna asked.

Rose looked as if she would brush off the question again, but instead she said,

"Screw it, I already told Zak. A few weeks ago, A tried to kill me."

"What?" All three girls said in shock.

"Yeah, they locked me in my basement and attacked me. I beat them off and they dropped a flash drive. I looked at it for the first time today and it was a bunch of surveillance footage. There are cameras in all of our houses. That's how A has been spying on us all. He's somehow gotten into all of our houses and planted all these cameras without us noticing. I'm bugged out because I spent all of today finding the ones in my house and one was high up and well.." Rose stopped and pulled up her shirt. A bloody patch covered her side.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"I stacked some things up to reach the chandelier that the camera was on and I fell of and knocked the camera down and landed on it. A big piece of glass got lodged into my side. I was about to pass out but Zak showed up and patched me up. I don't know how but he did."

"Talk about perfect timing." Zoe said.

"There are cameras in our houses?" Anna asked. Not only was A torturing the girls, he was also stalking them when they thought they were free.

"Yeah. That's why I left so much tonight. I was getting rid of as much cameras as I could." Rose said.

"My house next." Kara said.

"Zak and I will get all the cameras out, don't worry guys." Rose said.

"Why didn't you want to tell us about the flash drive?" Zoe asked.

"A threatened that if I told anyone he would hurt me."

"Then why did you say anything?" Anna asked.

"You guys are important to me. I wouldn't be able to look at myself if I let A continue to stalk you."

All the girls gave a thank you to Rose. A police siren went off in the distance. It wasn't that far away.

"I wonder what's going on." Kara asked. She got up and looked out the window.

A second siren, most likely an ambulance, started to blare as well.

"I can see the crowd of people." Kara said, peering out the window.

"It's that's close?" Anna asked. She got up and joined Kara at the window. There were a lot of people crowded around a police car and ambulance.

"That's by your house, Kara." Anna said.

Kara grabbed her phone and headed out the door.

"Where are you going? Rose asked.

"I'm going to see what's going on." Kara responded.

"Were coming to." Zoe said, speaking for everyone.

They were out the door and done the street in a matter of minutes. The crime was only a few houses down from Kara's house.

The girls all got separated in the large crowd of people. Anna shoved her way through people but couldn't get very far. People kept elbowing her.

She elbowed the people back and managed to get to the front. Anna saw as Kara broke through the crowd. A sob left her mouth when she looked at the scene going on in front of her.

Laying on a Gurnee was Caleb Rivers. It was hard to recognize him. His face was pulverized.

Anna looked back at Kara. She was now in her mom's arms, both with tears going down their faces. Anna watched as Kara screamed for her dad, tear rolling down her face.

Anna tried to go over to Kara but kept getting shoved back. Realizing it was hopeless; Anna stopped pushing and let herself get forced out of the crowd.

Zoe and Rose were outside too.

"What is going on?" Zoe yelled over the noise.

"I don't know!" Rose yelled back.

"Caleb was attacked!" Anna yelled to them.

"I can't get to Kara!" She added.

Anna felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out and saw the other two do the same. They all must've gotten a text.

 _ **He didn't listen.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna looked back to Kara, now on the ground, screaming as Hanna held her.

* * *

 **AN: Ohhhh. I felt like I should have something happen to one of the parents and I thought what the heck, why not!**

 **Anyway, intense chapter. It took me a while to make so I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Also, I think I have a posting schedule. I'll update once a week on either Friday or Saturday.**

 **Okay, I want to give credit to Boris Yeltsin. He gave me a profile for Cory and I used most of it so thank you, Boris!**

 **Also, my uncle got engaged today and I'm so happy for him!**

 **Anyway, thanks and I hope you enjoyed chapter 15!**

 **-Jessica**


	17. BreAk

**AN: Hey guys, so I had a really crappy week. Some rumor got out and a few people hate me, but it's okay, I'm working it out.**

 **I don't want this crappy mood to affect my writing but if it does, I apologize my life is just kind of sucky. Also, over Christmas break, I'm going to take a break. It would only be a few weeks. I just want to spend the break with my family and not have to worry about a chapter.**

 **Okay, enough of my sob story.**

 **No new followers or favoriters and I got a few reviews so thank you.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pll**

* * *

Caleb is not dead.

In fact, his condition isn't that bad. He had been beat up pretty badly and had a lot of cuts and bruises on his face and he may or may not have a small concussion, but nothing serious. Caleb's right wrist was also fractured, but that will heal in a few weeks.

The bad part was that he hasn't woken up yet. Kara had been at his bedside with her mother for three hours since they found him unconscious.

After the ambulance took him, Rose, Zoe and Anna showed the text A had sent and it's obvious that they did this. Why would A send a text saying that Caleb didn't listen?

There was no way that Kara's father was working for them.

Kara, confused, gave up on the thought. She stared at her father and prayed that he would wake up.

"Mom, when do you think he'll wake up?" Kara asked.

"I don't know. He was hit pretty hard on the head. It could be another hour or so." Hanna responded. She had stopped crying a while ago. After her fight with A, she was probably used to people getting hurt. Or maybe she stopped crying when she heard the news that Caleb would be okay. It could go either way.

Kara stared at her dad. She tried to count the amount of cuts on his face. They all connected at one point and Kara counted five.

Five.

Five for each finger.

Kara tensed at the realization. The attacker could be a female. Or, maybe A was trying to mess with Kara's head and grew out there nails long so she would think A was a girl.

Kara's head pounded and she knew she was still clueless. She rubbed her fingers against her temples.

Kara went back to the thought of Caleb working for A. Kara still thought there was no way, but Caleb did say he worked with surveillance footage, and Rose found a flash drive of footage from surveillance cameras.

Plus, Caleb was friends with all the girl's parents, so he could easily get into all of the girl's houses and set them up.

Kara needed to tell Zoe, Rose and Anna about her suspicions, but she didn't want to miss her dad waking up.

"You can leave, Kara."

Hanna must have sensed Kara.

"I don't want to miss him waking up." Kara said.

"As soon as he does, I'll come get you." Hanna promised.

Kara nodded her head and gave one last glance over to Caleb. She prayed her theories were wrong.

When Kara walked out of the waiting room, she had an unexpected visitor.

"Owen, hey. What are you doing here?" Kara asked when she saw him.

"I knew you would be hurting so I thought I would come to support you." Owen said, standing up and walked over to Kara.

He gave her a warm hug. Kara wrapped her arms around Owen and squeezed back.

"I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt your dad." Owen said, still hugging Kara.

"I don't know either." Kara said. But she did know who.

Owen and Kara finally broke apart and he looked into Kara's puffy, tear drained eyes. "You wanna talk about it?"

Kara wanted to say no so badly, but she wanted more than ever to reveal her problems. She trusted and loved Owen so much, and there is no way that he would freak out over the news about A.

She nodded her head ever so slightly.

Owen extended his hand and Kara gladly took it.

The two walked through the empty hospital and out to Owen's car.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"My house." Kara replied.

The two made the short trip home in silence. Once in Kara's house, the two sat down on the nearest couch.

Owen continued to grip Kara's hand. "What's going on?" He asked.

"I- It's just." Kara had no idea how to start. How do you tell someone that you're being hunted?

Owen saw Kara's struggles. "You can do it, Kara. You can trust me." He said soothingly.

"I know I can trust you, I just don't know how to start." Kara said frustrated.

"Start from the beginning. When did things start to bother you?"

"The night I got drunk." Kara said. She remembered the night. The night when she felt alone and that nobody cared for her. The night when the beer bottle was her only friend.

"What happened that night?" He asked. Kara appreciated that he didn't scold her for drinking.

"I was alone and lonely and, I got a text." Kara began.

"A text?"

"Yes, a text. It had all this information about my house, and yeah, I was creeped out but the map lead to the liquor safe and I had nothing better to do…"

"Who sent the text?" Owen asked.

"I don't know. They signed the text as '-A'. The next day I had a killer hangover and I wanted nothing more to lie down and do nothing for the rest of my life but I had to meet Zoe, Rose and Anna. The same thing happened to them. They didn't get drunk but they all got an A text. Ever since that day, A had been torturing us."

Owen's look grew even more concerned. "Torture?"

Kara nodded her head. "A has been texting us things and making us do stuff and threatening us."

"And you have no idea who A is?" Owen asked.

"We think that one of them is a boy." Kara revealed.

"One of them?" Owen asked, seeming even more confused.

"Yeah, there's two."

"How do you know?"

"I was at Anna's house and one of the A's distracted me and the other grabbed me from behind. They locked me in a shed full of snakes and Zoe, Rose, Anna and Dylan had to save me." Kara said.

"Wait a minute." Owen said. "This A person is threatening you and your friends and they send you texts and lock you in sheds full of snakes and you never bothered to mention it to me?"

"I didn't want you to freak out. I'm only telling you now because A hurt my dad." Kara said, twirling her fingers.

"So you wouldn't've told me if A didn't beat up your dad?" Owen said; angrily.

"I knew you would freak out so, no." Kara said, getting angry to.

Owen stood up and started pacing the room. "Wow. So you were just going to ride along this relationship and never tell me anything. Through the continuous torture you thought that I wouldn't care to know? I could've helped you, Kara. Been there for every text, been by your side and prevented any of the attacks. Did you not realize that?"

"I didn't want you to overthink it. I know you will do anything to keep me safe but I don't want you putting yourself before me." Kara said, standing up and looking at Owen in the eye.

"Don't you know what love is? You put the person you loves needs before yours without even thinking. You do everything for that person, even if it means getting a few scratches along the way! If you don't understand the basic structures of love, then you're not in it, because if you were, you would have told me the moment we kissed in front of the hospital."

Kara couldn't believe what Owen was accusing her of. He just didn't understand how dangerous A could be.

"I love you, Owen. And what you don't understand is that I didn't tell you because I love you! A is terrible and they could hurt you. They get in your brain and put these thought in it and I don't want that to happen to you!" Kara said. She was getting extremely frustrated and upset and wanted the conversation to be over with.

"Well A has obviously gotten inside yours. I can tell that you've been distant. Your mood is happy at one point and then you're sad in a second. This whole time I've been wondering what was up, and I trusted you that you would tell me. Too bad it had to forced out." Owen said, grabbing his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Kara asked, tears now forming in her eyes.

"Home." He said angrily.

The tears now leaked from Kara's eyes as she ran over and grabbed Owen's hand. "Don't leave." She pleaded.

Owen looked at Kara. She could tell he was hurt. "Next time, don't hide. Don't lie and tell me that you're fine when you're not." Owen said, shrugging his hand away from Kara.

He then turned to the door and started to open it.

"Okay, I'm not fine! Please, don't go! I'm telling you now so please, Owen don't leave. I'll change, I'll tell you everything starting now!" Kara could feel her heart tear in half.

Owen looked back at Kara with tears forming in his eyes. "Too late."

With that, he was out the door.

Kara watched him drive away. She slowly closed the door, not believing what just happen and leaned back on the door. She slid down and cried.

Kara had no idea what the heck just happened. Where her and Owen still together? Where they broken up? Whatever it was, it hurt.

Kara continued to sob. She felt stupid for not telling Owen sooner. Maybe he wouldn't have did, whatever he did with Kara, if she told him right away.

Then again, Kara was mad. Not at herself but at Owen. Did he not understand that A is harmful? Kara was scared to tell Owen because she thought that A might hurt him.

Kara lifted her head up. She gave herself five more seconds of sadness.

 _1…2…3…4…5…_

She wiped her tears and stood up. She took a shaky breath and heard her phone buzz from across the room.

Hoping it was her mother saying that Caleb was awake, she ran over to the phone.

She picked up the phone and cringed.

 _ **Bitches get broke.**_

 _ **-A**_

Kara put the phone down and searched for the camera. Rose still hadn't gotten to Kara's house to remove them.

Angrily she searched the area. It didn't take that long until she thought of the vents.

Sure enough, the camera was in there. Kara grabbed it and looked at it.

"Leave me the hell alone." She said to it. She then threw it at the wall. It shattered on impact.

Kara felt tears again but held them back. She still had to tell her friends about how Caleb could have been working for A non-knowingly.

She texted all of the girls to meet up at her house. Kara was going to say the brew, but with her luck, Owen would be there.

The message sent and Kara patiently waited, trying to forget the fact that Owen hated her.

* * *

Anna was the last one to arrive at Kara's. Her parents didn't want Anna to leave the house because they were scared that the same thing that happened to Caleb would happen to her.

Anna argued until her parents finally let her go.

When Anna walked through Kara's front door, everyone was around the main room.

Rose and Zoe were sitting next to each other on the couch and Kara was looking out the window.

The girls looked at Anna when she closed the door.

"Hey, sorry I'm late; my parents didn't want me to leave." Anna said.

She walked over to the main room and joined Rose and Zoe on the couch.

"Kara, what did you want to tell us?" Rose asked.

Kara turned around and Anna could tell Kara had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and mascara was smeared in a few places.

"Kara, are you okay?" Anna asked.

"Have you been crying?" Zoe added.

Kara brought her hand up to her face and began to wipe some stray tears. "No, I'm fine." She lied.

"Kara, don't lie." Anna said.

"Is your dad okay?" Rose asked.

"My dad is still asleep and I don't know if he's okay but that's not the point, I just need to-" Kara stopped when her voice cracked. She put her hand up to her mouth and started to cry silently.

Anna got up and walked over to Kara. She wrapped her arms around her let Kara cry into her shoulder. Rose and Zoe soon followed.

Anna was utterly confused. What was Kara so chocked up about?

"Kara, what's wrong?" Zoe asked, as if reading Anna's mind.

The girls backed off and gave Kara a few moments so she could straighten herself out.

She took a deep breath in and out and looked at the girls. "I told Owen about A."

"What did he say?" Anna asked.

Anna felt that this was unnecessary. Since Kara was crying it was obvious that Owen didn't take it well.

"He was mad at me for not telling him sooner." Kara muttered.

"That's not your fault; he doesn't understand that A could easily hurt him." Anna reassured.

"I told him that I was scared and he was still angry." Kara said, her voice shaking.

She took a few more breaths as tears started to form again. "I tried my best to tell him I was scared but he just wouldn't stop accusing me. He left and I don't know what we are."

"He left?" Rose asked.

"Walked right out the door."

"That's awful." Anna said in disbelief.

"The worst part is I don't know what we are. Are we a couple? Are we not?" Kara said.

"Kara, we'll fix this. We'll find a way to make him understand." Anna promised.

"I'll help to." Rose said.

"Yeah, me too." Zoe said.

Kara smiled and said, "Thank you. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

The girls stayed silent, urging Kara to go on.

"I think I might know who helped with the cameras."

"Who?" Anna tensed up and waited for the answer.

"My dad." Kara answered quietly.

"Kara, there's no way your dad is working for A." Rose said what Anna was thinking. Caleb has been through this before; he had to struggle with A also.

"I don't think he knew he was doing it. He would never betray my mom and I like that. The night he got beat up he told me he was working with surveillance footage. When we found my dad beat up we all got a text saying that 'He didn't listen.' Maybe my dad found out that the footage was for us and refused to work for A and A got mad and beat him up." Kara explained.

"That makes a lot of sense." Rose said.

It did. It made perfect sense.

"If A beat your dad up, Kara, do you think that Caleb saw their face?" Anna asked.

"He could've. But then again, A could have been wearing the mask." Kara answered.

"There's also the possibility that Caleb was working for A but A wasn't hiding. A could've be a normal customer. You're dad works with computers also, so Caleb could've seen the footage, and gone through a duplicate flash drive and seen all the old footage of us getting the texts and saw when A kidnapped Kara and put her in Anna's shed and refused to work for them anymore." Zoe said smartly.

That was also very possible.

"And when Caleb put the pieces together and was heading home to tell Hanna and Kara, A followed and probably tried to kill Caleb, but something stopped them." Anna finished.

"Do you really think that A is capable of murder?" Rose asked.

"A doesn't have a soul. Of course they will kill someone if they have to to keep their identity a secret." Zoe said.

"Then we need to figure out who stopped A from killing my dad. They can tell us who A is." Kara said.

"How will we do that?" Rose asked.

"We'll find a way." Anna responded.

Just then, all the girl's phones rang. Nervously, Anna pulled her phone out.

 _ **Good luck, Bitches. Time to play hide and seek.**_

 _ **-A**_

"We never got to take the cameras out of your house, Kara." Rose said. A must've heard the entire conversation.

When Rose finished her sentence, a loud blaring alarm rang through Kara's house.

Anna, along with everyone else, covered their ears. "What is that?" Anna yelled over the noise.

Kara ran through the house and to the front door. The blaring noise stopped and Kara ran back to the girls.

"That was the alarm. The door was wide open." Kara said with wide eyes.

Anna didn't have time to fit two and two together before a loud crashing sound came from Kara's room.

Anna was about to grab everyone and drag them out of the house, A was obviously in there, but Kara ran upstairs when the crash sounded.

"Kara, what are you doing?" The girls all yelled at Kara.

"I'm sick of this asshole ruining my life!" Kara yelled as she made her way up the stairs.

Anna, along with everyone else, followed Kara up the stairs. Anna had no idea what they were going to do when they faced what was inside Kara's room. None of them were smart enough to grab a weapon.

The girls ran in the room to see not many things changed.

The window was wide open, and a few things were on the floor.

Anna ran to the window and caught the hooded figure run down the street.

Rose, Zoe and Kara gasped and Anna turned around. They were looking at a picture frame.

Anna walked over and looked over their shoulders.

The picture frame consisted of a picture of all four girls, smiling happily, before the A texts.

A red sticky substance ran across the picture, crossing out all of their faces. Written across the picture was the word "Bitches"

The red liquid smelled metallically.

Blood.

But whose blood?

Anna looked at the painting in fear.

"I have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse."

* * *

 **Okay, so that was chapter 16. It was kind of short but I didn't want to have this huge chapter because those chapters always end with some kind of huge cliffhanger and I didn't want to leave you all hanging for three weeks so I wrote a little one for you.**

 **So yea, I decided to take a three week break. I went to spend my Christmas break with my family so I'm taking a break, but don't worry, I'll come back.**

 **I'm also going through some writers block so I'm going to think of some great ideas so I can come back really strong.**

 **Okay, I love you guys!**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **-Jessica**


	18. The cold hArd truth

**AN: I'm baaaack! Hey guys.**

 **I know I said I was taking a break, but I couldn't stay away.**

 **No new followers or favoriters, I'm not expecting that many more.**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pll.**

* * *

"Let me see your wrists." Amanda said to Zoe as soon as she sat down.

Zoe rolled up her sleeves and extended her arms.

Amanda smiled and looked up at Zoe with her brown eyes. "Good. No new cuts."

Zoe smiled back, truly, and rolled her sleeves back up. Her cutting had gone down greatly and Zoe was really proud of herself.

"You wanna tell me why this started?" Amanda asked again.

Zoe's smile faded. "No."

Amanda's smile faded to. "Why not?"

"If I won't even tell my parents, why would I tell you?" Zoe said.

Amanda lay back on her chair. "You should tell me because the whole reason why you're here is because you want to stop cutting, and you're doing pretty good. But the urge to cut is always going to be there. The first step to fully stop is to tell someone."

"I've already told Rose, Anna and Kara."

"That's true, but they aren't trained professionals and don't know how to get you to stop."

"They have actually been helping me more than you have, Amanda." Zoe said, rudely.

"That's because you opened up to them and they trust you and you trust them. They're going to do everything they can to help you, and you are going to let them since you trust them, Zoe. If you trust me enough to tell me, then I can help you."

"There is nothing you can do to take the memory away." Zoe said, looking away.

"That's true, but I can help dim it." Amanda said smoothly.

Zoe wanted to tell Amanda everything. _Everything._ There was this huge weight hanging over Zoe and it was getting hard to keep it up there. Zoe has been holding that weight over her head and it was getting hard to breath. She wanted to drop the weight and take a proper breath.

But telling Amanda also meant even more stress. Sure, Zoe's sessions were privet, but rape is a serious crime, and Zoe would be brought in for questioning and there would be all this stress that would break Zoe.

Amanda noticed that Zoe was thinking. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"I want to tell you so bad." Zoe said, still avoiding eye contact.

"There is nothing to be afraid of. I can help you win the war you are fighting." Amanda said, reaching out and grabbing Zoe's hand.

Zoe looked at the hand clamped around her own. It was so soft and warm. Zoe tried to absorb the warmth, but the coldness of her own soul rejected it.

"The truth just brings in more stress and, Amanda; I don't think I can survive the stress." Zoe said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Zoe, this burden you hold will never go away. You can either suffer the pain for a life time, or you can take the worst part right now and live the rest of your life proud that you survived." Amanda said, gripping Zoe's hand even tighter.

Zoe cracked. Tears rushed down her face. Zoe knew it was wrong. She had only known Amanda for a little while, but Zoe had been through so much. She was tired and just wanted a break. She finally realized how much help she needed.

Zoe opened her mouth and slowly spilled her guts out to Amanda.

"I had my innocence taken away. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just needed some air. If I had just listened to my parents I wouldn't have had my soul ripped from me. I was stupid for walking on a lonely street. I knew he was after me but I still went. He found me and beat me and dragged me in the woods. I tried to fight back but I… I wasn't strong… I…" Zoe began to fumble with her words. Waterfalls were pouring down her face and she couldn't stop.

Amanda stared at Zoe, tears forming in her eyes. With her hand still gripping Zoe's, she asked.

"Did that bastard rape you, Zoe?" Amanda asked.

Zoe nodded her head. Amanda's mouth opened slightly and her grip loosened. Amanda's hand went back to her side.

Wait, why? Did Amanda look at Zoe differently now?

Zoe wiped her tears and noticed that her hands were shaking. She anxiously waited for Amanda to say something.

Instead, Amanda opened her arms up wide. Zoe didn't care that Amanda was her shrink, she knew one of Zoe's biggest secrets. That meant something, so Zoe lunged forwards and accepted Amanda's hug.

Zoe appreciated that Amanda didn't throw a thousand questions at her. That what was so amazing about her, she didn't push anything. She stated facts.

It did make Zoe feel a lot better that someone who could really help knew about Zoe. In fact, Zoe felt the weight became a little less heavy.

The huge A secret was still keeping the weight in place. Zoe was smart enough not to let that slide.

Zoe, still in Amanda's arms, stopped crying.

"Are you okay now?" Amanda asked.

Zoe sniffled and sat back in her chair. "Yeah, it feels really good to tell someone."

Amanda smiled that warm smile over to Zoe. Zoe smiled back.

"I understand that you might not want to tell me who raped you, but I can put that idiot behind bars with enough evidence. Just think about telling me."

Zoe knew that she would tell Amanda eventually, but Zoe had enough for one day.

Amanda looked over at the clock. "Oh, god." She said.

Confused, Zoe asked. "What?"

"You're fifteen minutes past your scheduled time."

Zoe stood up and said, "I'm sorry, I'll leave."

Amanda stood up to and said, "Really Zoe, I wish you could stay and we could talk more, but I have another appointment in ten minutes."

Zoe understood. She gave Amanda one last hug and said her good byes.

When Zoe turned the corner she was greeted with a loud. "Hello again."

Zoe stopped mid step and looked at Cory.

Zoe quickly brought her hand up and wiped away her remaining tears.

"Where you crying?" He asked, concerned.

"No, not like it's any of your business." Zoe said, bringing her hands down from her face.

"You're right, it's not. I shouldn't have asked." He said genuinely.

Zoe stared at the boy. He seemed truly concerned. He didn't seem like some ignorant guy.

"It's fine." Zoe said.

Cory scrunched his eyebrows. "You know, I never got your name."

Zoe laughed. She forgot she was so rude to him last time and never told Cory her name.

"It's Zoe."

"Zoe. It suits you." He said, smiling.

Zoe smiled back. "So do you just wait by this corner and wait for me to turn it or…"

Cory chuckled at Zoe's comment and said. "No. I just got done with a session and I saw you walk out so I hid behind the corner."

"You know you can walk up and greet me like a normal person." Zoe said sarcastically.

"I know, but it's more fun if I can get a smile out of you."

Zoe noticed that she was smiling. Cory was smiling to. She wondered what he was here for. He seemed like a happy guy with absolutely no problems.

Well, he did have a limp, but he wasn't at physical therapy. For all Zoe knew, this was a building for therapy that only evolved emotion.

"Are you trying to figure out why I'm here?" He asked, reading Zoe's mind.

Zoe, ashamed, answered, "Yes."

"Well, you'll find out when I find out why _you're_ here." Cory said with a smirk.

"Touché" Zoe said.

She wasn't that angry that Cory wouldn't tell Zoe. Like him, she respected his privacy.

"I have to head home. My mom's will freak out if I come home late." Zoe said to Cory.

He stepped aside and let Zoe through. "See you next week."

Zoe said the same thing back and headed for the elevator.

She wished she didn't have to leave yet. She really liked talking to Cory.

Zoe was about to run back to the lobby and give Cory her number so they could talk more, but the elevator closed on Zoe.

She scoffed at the door and waited for it to open again at the main lobby.

Zoe's phone buzzed halfway through the ride down.

 _ **Making friends, Zoe? Keep this one close. You'll need a friend in a few minutes.**_

 _ **-A**_

What?

Zoe wondered what this meant.

She felt like she was floating on cloud nine, what could A do to bring that down?

Zoe then remembered how A cut up Anna, kidnapped Kara and threw her in a shed of snakes, beat up Caleb. And so on.

Right.

It's Zoe's turn now.

Zoe awaited the ding of the elevator. She was terrified on what might be on the other side.

When it dinged, Zoe closed her eyes.

When nothing happened, she slowly opened them. Nothing was there, Just the empty lobby. Well, the receptionist was there, but other than her, the lobby was empty.

Zoe stepped out of the elevator and turned to the door. Zoe had to walk home today. Both her parents were busy and couldn't pick her up.

Zoe wished Cory was with her. If something was waiting for her, she wanted someone to be next to her.

Zoe walked out the door and kept her eyes wide open.

The walk home was uneventful so far. Nothing out of the ordinary.

What if something was waiting for Zoe at her house? What if A had done something to Zoe's parents?

Thinking this is what most likely is going to happen, Zoe began to pick up the pace.

She walked quickly but stopped when she turned the corner.

Zoe now understood what A was warning her about.

Zoe dropped everything she had when she saw him. Maybe he wouldn't have noticed, but Zoe's large purse made a loud thud.

The noise echoed through the small, empty street.

The noise reached him and he turned around.

Daniel stared at Zoe with an expressionless face.

That's all he did. He stared. The suspense on what he might do next was killing Zoe.

Zoe was shaking badly. She reached down to grab her purse, she was going to run away but didn't want to leave it, but it slipped through her fingers and landed a few feet behind her.

Zoe looked back up to see if Daniel had moved. He did. He was a few feet closer now.

She stared back, too scared to move.

Her stomach did a backflip when she heard his voice.

"Zoe?"

Zoe didn't say anything back. She shook her head and started to back up.

For every foot Zoe stepped back, Daniel stepped forwards.

Zoe prayed he would turn around; that he would leave her alone.

He kept coming. Zoe stared at him. She focused only on him. Mistake.

Zoe fumbled over her purse and collided with the hard cement.

She let out a gasp of pain when she landed. Zoe tried to stand back up, but her arms and legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't support herself.

Daniel was now standing in front of Zoe.

With tears streaming down her face, Zoe whimpered. "Please don't hurt me."

Daniel knelt down so that he was looking directly into Zoe's eyes.

"Zoe, stop." He said.

Zoe closed her eyes. "Please." She whispered.

Zoe felt Daniel's breath on her face. "Zoe, look at me." He said calmly.

Sure, he may be acting sweet to her now, but Zoe would never forget what he did to her.

"Please just leave." Zoe said with her eyes still closed.

"I just want to talk to you." He said.

Zoe responded by shaking her head.

"Zoe, look at me." Daniel said, a little more angrily.

Zoe was afraid to open her eyes, but she was also afraid of keeping them closed.

"No." Zoe said; her voice barely audible.

She felt his hard grip around her wrist. The familiar feeling brought pain to Zoe.

Both physically and emotionally.

The memory of that night flooded into Zoe's brain. The memory she has been trying so hard to keep locked away.

Her eyes opened and a scream erupted from Zoe's mouth. Within the scream the words, "Get off me, help, please don't," were also released.

Zoe felt like she was going mad. Her body refused to do anything. It was like she was paralyzed.

She watched as Daniel put his hand over her mouth. "Shut up!" He said through gritted teeth.

Zoe bit down hard on his fingers, something she should have done the first time his hands were on her mouth, and his hand flung away from Zoe. An agonizing groan also escaped his lips.

Zoe took this opportunity and used all her strength to rip her wrist from Daniel's grasp.

She succeeded. She got up and ran. She didn't even reach for her purse; she could come back for it later. The only thing that mattered right now was for Zoe is to get somewhere with people.

The small street turned into a large street. It seemed like with every step Zoe took, another ten feet the road grew.

Zoe looked over her shoulder to see where Daniel was. He was chasing after her.

She screamed again and continued to run.

Zoe stopped running when she heard the sound of someone falling hard onto the pavement.

She turned around and saw Daniel on the ground. Cory stood next to Daniel. He must've tackled him to the ground.

Cory stood in front of Daniel and leaned down. He began punching Daniel over and over again.

Zoe ran over to them. She grabbed Cory's arm before he could land another punch.

"Stop!" She yelled.

Cory stopped and looked at Zoe.

"He's passed out!" Zoe said, pointing at Daniel.

Daniel, in fact, was passed out. Blood poured from many cuts on his face, but he didn't move.

Cory got off of Daniel and grabbed Zoe's shoulders. "Are you okay?" He asked frantically.

Zoe nodded her head. "Yea I'm fine. How did you know I was here?"

"I was walking home when I heard a scream. I followed the noise and I saw him with his hand covering your mouth. I was running towards you when you got away. I had to make sure he didn't reach you."

Zoe, still shaking, stared at Cory.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

Zoe was about to say yes again, but she felt the tears fall from her eyes. She shook her head. "No." She said; her voice cracking.

Cory gave Zoe a sympathetic look and wrapped his arms around Zoe.

Zoe gripped Cory hard and cried into his chest. He took his hand and rubbed Zoe's back.

"It's okay. You're safe." He said repeatedly.

Zoe and Cory stayed like this for a while. It was only when they heard Daniel groan that they broke apart.

"Is he waking up?" Zoe asked, wiping her tears.

"No, it's just his body reacting to the pain." Cory answered.

Zoe took a deep breath in and out.

Cory looked at Zoe with the same sad look as before. "Is he why you're in therapy?" He asked.

Zoe nodded her head.

With that simple response, Cory understood everything.

Zoe mentally told the story to him.

He looked at Daniel with an angry look on his face. Cory leaned over Daniel's unconscious body and threw one more hard punch.

"Don't do that." Zoe said weakly.

"I want to kill him." Cory said, staring at Daniel.

"Don't say that." Zoe said to Cory.

"But I want to _so_ badly. He's sick. He makes me want to throw up. Nobody should ever disrespect you like that. Nobody has the right to put their hands on you, Zoe."

"And if you lay a hand on him, you're no better." Zoe said.

Cory clenched his fist and looked at Zoe.

She stared at his fist, scared on what he might hit next.

Cory closed his eyes and relaxed his hand. "You're right."

Zoe released the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Cory pulled out his phone and began to dial a number.

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked.

"Calling the police."

"No, don't!" Zoe yelled, reaching for the phone.

Cory lifted his arm into the air and Zoe was unable to reach it.

"Cory, please don't." Zoe begged.

"Zoe, I'm going to put this asshole in jail so he can't do something like this again." Cory said; his arm still up in the air.

Zoe stepped down in defeat. Maybe it was time. If the police didn't take away Daniel, then the abuse from him would keep coming.

"Can you leave out the part where he raped me?" Zoe asked.

"What do you want me to tell them then? They won't do anything if they think he just hit you."

"I don't know! Think of something!" Zoe said, getting upset.

Cory grabbed Zoe's arm and showed Zoe her wrist. You could see where Daniel had grabbed it.

"See what he did? He won't stop if he stays in Rosewood." Cory said calmly.

"That's not enough evidence." Zoe pointed out.

"There's also blood on your lips from when you bit his finger. I can bet that there are teeth marks on his fingers."

Zoe gave up. There was no other way to dodge the problem.

"Can I tell them then?" Zoe asked. She extended her hand and waited for the phone.

Cory nodded his head and gave Zoe the phone.

Zoe dialed 9-1-1 and waited for the operator to pick up.

"911 what's your emergency?" A lady asked.

"I've been attacked." Zoe said straight out.

"What's you're location miss?" The lady asked.

Zoe told the lady the information.

"Is the attacker still with you?" She asked.

"Yes, but my friend heard me scream and he knocked him out." Zoe answered, looking over at Daniel.

"Is you're friend still with you?" She asked

"Yea, I'm using his phone." Zoe answered

"Okay, Police are on their way, hang tight." The lady said, a little calmer.

"I will; thank you." Zoe answered.

The operator didn't say anything else so Zoe hung up. She handed the phone back to Cory.

"I'm proud of you." He said.

Zoe smiled at him. The wind slammed hard against Zoe. She started to shake.

"You cold?" Cory asked.

"A little." Zoe answered.

Cory put his arms back around Zoe and she leaned into his chest.

Zoe absorbed his warmth. Her phone wrung in her purse. Zoe looked at it and broke free from Cory's grip.

She leaned down and picked up the phone. It was Alison.

"Who is it?" Cory asked.

"My mom." Zoe answered.

"Answer it. She's probably freaking out." Cory said.

Zoe clicked the answer button.

"Zoe, where are you? You should have been home a half hour ago!" Alison said worried.

"Mom, don't freak out." Zoe said, trying to calm her mother.

"Of course I'm going to freak out! For all your mother and I knew, you could be dead in a bathroom stall!"

"Mom, stop. I wouldn't do that."

Zoe didn't know how to say that she was in an empty street with her friend from therapy next to the unconscious body of the boy who raped her, and probably was going to do the same thing again today, waiting for the police to arrive because the rapist had attacked Zoe.

"Mom, there's no easy way to say this but… I've been attacked. I got trapped in an empty street and Daniel attacked me again. My friend from therapy is with me and we are waiting for the police."

The other side of the line was silent. All Zoe could hear was the heavy breathing coming from Alison.

"Your mom and I are on our way." Alison said. The call then cut off.

Zoe put the phone down and looked at Cory. "My moms are on their way. But I have no idea how they'll find me, I didn't tell them where I was."

"They'll find you. Mothers always do." Cory said soothingly.

Zoe decided that today would be the day that she told her parents that Daniel had done more than just hit her. She would tell them that she had been raped.

Sirens sounded in the distance. They got closer and closer until they pulled on the street Zoe, Cory and Daniel were on.

Many police officers with guns got out of their cars. Two of them being Victoria and Toby.

Toby ran up to Zoe and said. "Are you okay?"

Zoe looked at Toby and said. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Toby looked at Zoe with great concern. Zoe could understand why. She and Toby were kinda related. Toby was Zoe's half uncle, or something along those lines.

Toby looked at Daniel's unconscious body and asked. "Is that him?"

Zoe nodded and Toby signaled to the other police officers. Victoria and a few others raced over to Daniel and put him on a gurney. They then put him in the back of an ambulance that had also showed up. The ambulance then drove away.

Toby looked at Cory. "Are you 'the friend'?"

Cory nodded his head. "Yes sir."

Toby extended his hand. Cory took it and shook it.

"Thank you." Toby said.

Cory nodded his head.

Toby turned back to Zoe. "Do you want me to call your parents?"

"There already on their way." Zoe answered.

As if on cue, Alison and Emily's car pulled onto the street.

They got out of the car and ran over to Zoe.

They hugged her and tears poured out of the three girls eyes.

"I need to tell you guys something." Zoe said to them.

"You can tell us anything." Emily said.

Zoe broke apart from her moms and looked over at Cory.

He nodded his head and that gave Zoe a boost of confidence.

Zoe then looked over at Toby and said. "He needs to hear it to."

Confused, Alison and Emily looked at Toby.

"It requires the police's attention." Zoe said.

"Yeah, okay. Sure." Emily said.

Emily then walked over to Toby and said something to him. He looked over at Zoe and walked over.

"You need to tell us something?" He asked.

"Yeah, but can we do this somewhere else?" Zoe asked.

"Of course. Where do you want to go?" Toby asked.

"Home." Zoe said. When she thought of the word safety, her house was the first image to pop up.

"Okay. You can ride with your parents if you want." Toby said.

"I will; thanks." Zoe replied.

She looked over at Cory.

"Just give me a second." She didn't give the adults a second to answer. She just ran over to Cory and hugged him one more time. When she thought of the word safety, he was the second thing to pop up.

"Can you be there with me when I tell my parents?" Zoe asked.

"Absolutely." Cory responded.

Emily, Alison, Cory and Zoe all got in one car while Toby got in the police car and drove behind them.

When they got in the house, Cory and Zoe sat on the couch while Alison, Emily and Toby sat across from them.

Zoe took a deep breath in and out. She looked over at Cory and he whispered, "It's okay. You're so strong, you got this. I'm right here."

She looked back over to the adults. She blindly reached for Cory's hand. She found it and squeezed. He squeezed back.

Zoe pinched her eyes closed and cleared her mind. There was no turning back.

She opened her eyes and opened her mouth.

"A few months ago, my life ended. Yes, you guys found out Daniel hit me. That was true, but there was more."

The three adults said nothing.

Zoe took another deep breath and continued.

"The night you guys didn't want me to leave the house, and I did, was the night it all happened. I was out all alone. If only I was smart enough to not walk far. I saw Daniel. He was angry that I told the police that he hit me. I don't how he came up with it, but…" Zoe pinched her eyes closed, hoping to stop the tears, but failed.

She opened her eyes as all the held back tears were let loose. She wiped her eyes and saw both her parents had tears forming in their eyes.

She felt Cory squeeze her hand again. This time, Zoe squeezed back.

Zoe steadied her breath and looked up at her parents.

She was so scared. But she had to get it out.

"Daniel beat me and dragged me into the woods. He pinned me down and… and… he raped me. It didn't last that long because-"

Zoe stopped herself. She couldn't say that A had saved her. She still wouldn't spill that secret until all four girls agreed.

Zoe stared at everybody. Tears escaped everybody's eyes. Even Toby and Cory were crying.

"What else?" Toby asked after he sniffled.

"I fought back. I got him off. He ran off and I haven't seen him until today. He saw me today and I was so scared. I couldn't move. I fell down and he came over to me. He was calm at first but then he got angry. He grabbed my wrist and put his hand over my mouth when I started screaming. I bit his finger and I got out of his grip. I ran away." Zoe explained.

She then looked at Cory and somehow, she managed a smile.

"I stopped when I heard something hit the ground. Cory heard me scream. He tackled Daniel to the ground and knocked him unconscious. From then on, it was Cory who gave me the strength to call the police. He gave me the strength to finally lift this weight of fear of my chest and tell you all." Zoe finished.

Toby had a sad look on his face as he finished his notes on his notepad.

Emily and Alison stood up and looked at Zoe with tears in their eyes.

Zoe stood up also and allowed them to hug her.

Zoe sobbed in their arms. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner I was just scared."

The two mothers squeezed Zoe and soothed her. They rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"Don't be sad." Emily said.

"The worst part is over." Alison added.

Zoe pulled away and wiped her tears once again.

Zoe's parents then walked over to Cory. He stood up with a confused look on his face.

Zoe was confused to. What were her parents going to do?

They took turns hugging him. "Thank you." They both said.

"I would do anything for Zoe." Cory said, looking at Zoe when he said it.

Warmth shot through Zoe's body. She joined her parents and hugged Cory to.

Toby stood up and said. "I'm on Daniel's case. I won't stop until he's in jail. I'll look in the woods for evidence. If you have anything, Zoe, I could use it."

Zoe turned to Toby. She did have the recording A had sent of the incident, but how would she explain how she had the footage.

Zoe thought really hard on something she could give Toby.

Then it hit her.

"I have the clothes I wore the night it happened." Zoe said.

"That's perfect; did you wash them since the incident?" He asked.

"No, I put them in a bag and threw them in the back of my closet. I'm too scared to look at them." Zoe said.

This was kind of true. A had changed Zoe into new clothes that night, but they left the ripped clothes on the floor, so Zoe threw them in the bag and put them in the closet.

"Can you please get the bag?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, I'll go get it." Zoe answered.

She walked to her room and hoped that the bag was still there. Zoe walked to the closet and opened it.

She dug through the shirts and hoodies that had fallen from their hangers and was relieved when she saw the bag.

She grabbed it and opened it. A nasty stench was sent up at Zoe's face. She dropped the bag and gagged.

Yeah, it was defiantly the same outfit.

She brought the bag down to Toby and he took it gratefully.

"I'll try my best to get Daniel in jail." Toby said, grabbing the bag.

Zoe responded by hugging Toby. "Thank you so much."

Toby hugged back. When he and Zoe broke apart, he looked at Zoe's parents.

"Thank you." Emily said.

"Anytime." Toby answered.

He sent a warm smile to the family and was out the door.

The room was silent.

"Zoe, you should get some rest. Your mom and I have a lot of talking to do." Alison said.

Zoe nodded her head. She knew that this was a lot to take in.

"I should leave then." Cory said.

Zoe was so used to his presence, that she forgot Cory was in the room.

"I'll walk you out." Zoe said.

Together, the two walked to the door.

Zoe stepped onto the front porch with Cory and closed the door behind her.

"Do you live far from here?" Zoe asked.

"No, not that far. I'll be fine walking home."

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked.

"Yes. I'll be fine and you need to stay home and rest. What you did today took guts."

"Well, now that you know why I was in therapy, it's your turn to tell me why you're there." Zoe said, remembering the conversation the two had earlier that day.

Cory chuckled. "There's been enough drama for one day. I'll tell you tomorrow, after you've rested."

Zoe pouted. She really wanted to know. But her eyelids were drooping. Zoe just now realized how tired she was.

"Okay, I can wait." Zoe said, crossing her arms.

"It's less than a twenty four hour wait so don't get to upset." Cory said sarcastically.

"I won't! Now hop along. It's getting dark." Zoe said.

Cory gave Zoe a funny look. "Hop along?"

"Yes 'hop along' it's what you do." Zoe said, laughing.

Cory laughed to and turned around. He started to make his way down the porch but Zoe stopped him.

"Wait." She said.

He turned around and looked at Zoe. "What?"

Zoe walked up to him and did the last thing she expected that she would ever do.

She grabbed Cory's shoulders and kissed him.

He was surprised at first, so was Zoe, but he quickly responded and kissed back.

Zoe thought that she would never be able to kiss someone sine the only lips that had touched hers were Daniel's, but Zoe felt so safe with Cory.

The kiss didn't turn into anything intense, it was like one of those kisses in the movies, when the couple is separated for a long time, but see each other on the street. They then run up to each other and the man lifts the woman into his arms and the two share the most romantic kiss ever. It doesn't matter that the two are in the middle of traffic, or that the rain is pouring down on the two of them. It only matters that the two are together. It feels like nobody else is there. That they are the only two human beings left in the universe.

That's what it felt like then Zoe's lips touched Cory's. And Zoe knew that Corey felt the same way.

When the two broke apart, Zoe stared into Cory's green eyes. He stared back just as intensely.

"I don't know what to say." Cory said.

"I don't either." Zoe said, laughing.

Cory laughed to.

Zoe leaned him and hugged him. He hugged back.

"Be safe, okay?" He said to the top of Zoe's head.

"I will." Zoe said into Cory's chest. She could feel his heart beating.

Cory kissed the top of Zoe's head and broke apart.

Zoe and Cory's hands stayed together until the space between the two was too much.

Zoe's hand slipped from Cory's and he walked off.

She wasn't sad; she knew that she would see him tomorrow.

Zoe watched him limp away and went back in the house when Cory turned the corner and she couldn't see him anymore.

When Zoe went back in the house, he parents were in the same place they were when Zoe left.

"I'm going to head off to bed." Zoe said. It was still pretty early, but the day had worn Zoe out and all she wanted was some sleep.

Emily and Alison stopped their conversation and walked over to Zoe. They hugged and kissed her goodnight.

"We love you." Emily said.

"I love you guys to." Zoe responded.

She hugged them both again and headed up to her room.

Zoe didn't even change her clothes, she just crawled into bed.

For the first time in a really long time, Zoe got some sleep.

* * *

 **AN: So this was kind of weird.**

 **I've never made a chapter with one perspective, but so much happened to Zoe and I felt like this was a lot for one chapter and I decided that this had enough drama for one chapter. Lol.**

 **I hope you guys are happy with Zoe and I hope you guys like Cory.**

 **I personally really like their relationship.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all had a good Christmas (If you celebrate it) and I hope you all enjoyed chapter 17!**

 **Love you!  
-Jessica**


	19. Suspicion

**AN: Hey!**

 **Ozerakount, Whataliar, Amandatropic, Spobyezriahaleb4life and AidenP1897 all followed so thank you!**

 **Whataliar, Spobyezriahaleb4life and AidenP1897 also favorited!**

 **Ps, I'm glad you guys liked the YouTube video! I hope I answered all the questions that you all were curious about.**

 **Also, sorry that this is up a little late. I've been sick for the past few days and yeah, all I want to do is sleep. XD**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

After two days, Caleb was finally home.

The whole "Caleb working for A" thing is all Kara could think about since her dad got home, but Kara didn't want to ruin the fact that he was home after getting the snot knocked out of him.

Caleb still acted like his normal self, but there would be times where he would seem kind of off. Like he would zone off into space and Hanna and Kara would have to call for him multiple times until he focused back into reality.

There were several times where Kara was about to ask her father about the cameras, but she was scared to do so. What if he got angry at Kara for believing that he could be working for a psychopath? Or, he could actually be working for A and… well; Kara didn't want to think about that possibility.

But Kara was still curious if Caleb saw his attacker.

She brought it up at the worst time: Dinner.

"Did you see the person who attacked you" Kara asked, completely interrupted a conversation that Caleb and Hanna were having.

Caleb stared at Kara with an annoyed glance. "Can we not talk about it?"

"I'm just curious on why somebody would want to hurt you." Kara said, taking a sip of her water.

"I don't know why either, but can we change the subject?" Caleb said, ignoring eye contact with Kara.

Why was he brushing the issue away?

"Okay, well why don't we talk about hands." Kara said.

Hanna and Caleb both looked at Kara with confused looks. "Hands?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, like were the hands that punched dad big or small?" Kara said.

Caleb, now at his boiling point, slammed his fist down on the table.

"Kara!" he yelled loudly.

Kara shut her eyes at the sound of his voice. Caleb rarely yelled, so when he did, he was _mad._

She opened her eyes and looked at her mom for support. When the two made eye contact, Hanna looked away.

Kara stood up from the table.

"Fine. Sorry that I am worried about my father after he was beat up and sent to the hospital for two days, and I'm sorry that I'm trying to show that I care by asking questions that may help with figuring out who attacked him. If it's annoying you that much than maybe I should stop caring. Is that what you want me say?"

When neither parents answered, Kara stomped up the stairs and slammed her door closed. She stared at herself in the mirror and rubbed her face.

Kara's eyes searched her bedroom; she scanned all the pictures of her and her parents. Kara's favorite picture, the family at a baseball game, had a camera in it not too long ago. By now, all cameras were out of everyone's house.

Kara looked back at the baseball picture. She walked over to her nightstand where it stood and picked it up. She looked at it and laughed. Kara remembered that day. Hanna and Kara both had no idea what was going on but the team they were rooting for was losing, and Caleb was really frustrated. The whole crowd was silent but one of the players on our team hit a home run. Kara went to take a picture with her mom but as soon as she took the picture, the crowd went crazy. When the crowd calmed down Kara looked at the picture. Both Hanna and Kara were looking at the camera smiling and Caleb had his arms up in the arm screaming in excitement.

They were all so happy, and that was why Kara loved that picture. She stared at it as a single tear rolled down her face.

Kara regretted telling her parents that she would stop caring. Anything could happen to them at any moment.

But Kara still held a grudge against them both. They still hadn't told Kara about how they were harassed by A when they were teenagers. Also the fact that Caleb was refusing to answer Kara's questions.

Kara wiped her face of the single tear and picked up her phone. She dialed Anna's number.

"Hey, Kara." Anna said after one ring.

"Hey." Kara responded half-heartedly.

"Did you ask Caleb about the A thing?"

Kara took a deep breath in. She knew this would end up being what the call was about, but she hoped that it wouldn't lead up to that.

"I'm trying." Kara answered.

"You still haven't asked him?" Anna asked on the other line.

"I told you I'm trying. I want to give him some space. He just got home and I don't want to accuse him of anything. I want to let him breath." Kara said, not saying how Caleb avoided the question.

Anna sighed on the other side of the line. "I get it, Kara. If you don't want to ask him someone else can."

Kara was silent. She would tell the group eventually on how Kara _did_ ask her father, but he kept avoiding the question. She just didn't want to say it now. Caleb not answering simple questions only added on to the possibility of him working for A.

"Kara, you still there?" Anna asked.

Kara had forgotten she was there.

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"Nothing." Kara said quietly.

"Kara, you don't just take long breaks and not have anything come out of it. You always have something on your mind."

Kara smiled to herself. Anna knew her to well.

"Okay, you caught me."

"What's wrong?"

"I did ask my dad about the A thing. He keeps brushing it aside and about ten minutes ago he snapped at me." Kara said, the memory of the loud thud rushing back into her brain.

"He's avoiding the questions?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. Its scaring me, Anna." Kara said, finally realizing how crazy this situation was.

"I'm sure we're overthinking it. Your dad wouldn't do anything to hurt us, he's not like that." Anna said, comforting Kara.

"How do you know?" Kara said.

"That's just what dads do. When you become a parent, everything becomes second." Anna said.

Kara threw her head back and put a hand on her forehead. "Okay. Yeah, he wouldn't do this to us."

"Just ask him again when he calms down." Anna said.

"I will."

"On the other hand, how are you and Owen?" Anna asked, changing the subject.

Kara was happy that Anna had changed the subject, but she just steered it into another thing Kara didn't want to think about.

Kara looked out her window at nothing in particular. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since that night. I've called and texted but he won't answer. I'm taking this as a breakup, and if he isn't, then I'm dumping his sorry ass. You don't tell someone something as big as this and leave them, it's inhuman."

"We'll find him, Kara, don't worry." Anna said.

"I know. It just bothers me that I don't know if were broken up or not. That's another stupid thing he forgot to mention." Kara said angrily.

"Like you said, if he hasn't contacted you, then he probably is taking this as a breakup." Anna said.

"Gee, thanks that makes me feel better." Kara said. Tears started to form in her eyes as she realized how she and Owen were over.

"I'm just saying it so you don't have to be hit so hard when Owen says it."

The first tear broke from Kara's eye. "I don't want him to say it."

"That's why we're going to find him so you can settle this." Anna said.

"I know, and when we do I'm going to beat his-" Kara stopped mid-sentence. She had turned from the wall and saw her mother standing in the doorway to Kara's room.

"Anna, I got to go." She said quickly. Kara then brought the phone down from her ear and ended the call before Anna could say anything.

Kara wiped the few tears on her face and said. "What do you want?"

Hanna walked in the room and closed the door. "Don't be like that."

"Like what?"

"Don't act like you don't want me here. A girl needs her mother during their first breakup." Hanna said, sitting down on Kara's bed.

Kara didn't move. "You were spying on me?" She asked.

"I didn't hear much just about how Owen is ignoring you. You two broke up?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know. He got angry and left and I haven't seen him since. When I text and call, he doesn't respond." Kara said, she still didn't move.

"Well, if you want to know where he is, I can tell you." Hanna said.

This sparked Kara's interest. She finally moved and sat on the bed with her mother.

"Where is he?" Kara asked eagerly.

"What are you going to do when you find him?" Hanna answered Kara's question with a question.

Kara opened her mouth and then closed it. She was going to say that she would explain the A thing better, so when we felt sad and worried for her, she could beat his ass and leave him so he would feel all the guilt that Kara is feeling right now. But she couldn't explain the A thing.

"I don't know. I just want to talk to him." Kara answered simply.

"He spends most of his time at the brew. He works there, remember? And you do too." Hanna said.

"I haven't showed up my past few shifts. I'm probably fired." Kara said, almost laughing.

"Kara, you can't do that!" Hanna said loudly.

"A part of me always new that he was most likely there and sometimes I just don't want to see him."

"Well, now you do, so when you have your next shift, actually go in and work. You're bound to run into him. You can talk to him there."

Kara nodded her head. "Okay, yeah. My next shift is in a few days. That gives me some time to practice what I'm going to say to him." Kara said.

This time, Hanna laughed and hugged her daughter. "Okay, you do that." She gave Kara a tight squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

Almost out the door, Hanna turned back around.

"And about your father, please stop bugging him with these questions." Hanna said.

"Why is he avoiding them? Kara said, answering the question with a question, just like her mother had.

"There are many reasons. I don't want to get into it, he has to tell you, but let him breath. He just got home. For now, focus on Owen."

"I will. Don't worry." Kara lied. She sent a smile to her mom.

Hanna smiled back and walked out the door.

Kara couldn't drop the questions. This is the closest thing the girls have to figuring out who A is, and there not going to give up on it. All the evidence is piling up and now, even Kara is starting to believe that Caleb could be A's helper.

She prayed she was wrong.

* * *

"Anna, I got to go." Kara said quickly. The call then went dead.

Anna looked at the phone and threw it on her bed.

She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself. Anna considered her decent and walked down the stairs.

She was almost out the door when Anna heard her mother call, "Where are you going."

Anna closed her eyes and grunted. "I'm going to see Dylan."

Spencer was soon in the room. "And what are you going to do with Dylan?" She asked.

Anna felt no need to lie. "Were going to the park and were only going to talk. We haven't seen each other in a while so were going to catch up. Then I'm coming straight home."

"Are you telling the truth?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, mom, you can trust me." Anna said.

Spencer nodded at the door. "You can go."

Anna smiled at her mom. "Thanks!" She said.

Anna ran to the door and reached for the doorknob. Before Anna touched it, it turned by itself. Confused, Anna stepped aside.

Toby walked in the door, eyes red and puffy.

"Dad, are you okay?" Anna asked.

This caught Spencer's attention. She noticed his eyes and concern grew on her face.

"Toby?" Spencer asked.

"I'm fine. It was just a rough day." He said, taking of his jacket.

"Please tell me somebody didn't die." Anna asked.

"No. It was a rape case." Toby said. He avoided eye contact with Anna when he said that.

Rape? There was only one person that could apply to.

"Is Zoe okay?" Anna asked, not thinking.

"I never mentioned Zoe." Toby said, staring at Anna.

"You didn't? I thought you did." Anna said, trying to save herself.

"No I didn't. Did you know that Zoe was raped a few months ago?" Toby asked crossing his arms.

"Oh my god, Zoe." Spencer said under her breath.

Ashamed, Anna nodded her head.

"Anna, why didn't you tell me!" Toby yelled.

"It's not my decision! It happened to her not me, her body, not mine. It's not my business to tell!" Anna said, defending herself.

"This is serious, Anna." Spencer said sternly.

Anna sighed. "I know it is. But Zoe's trust is more important than law to me right now. Ground me or do whatever you want, but I don't regret not telling you."

Anna's parents stared at each other. They kind of had their own sign language that Anna hasn't figured out yet. With a series of looks, the two had a full conversation.

"You're not in trouble. We get that now is a hard time and you need all the friends you can get. But tell me if something serious happens next time." Toby said after the silent conversation the two had.

Anna was shocked. She wasn't in trouble? That was a first.

"Thank you. I promise I'll tell you both the next serious thing to happen." Anna said. She _would_ tell them anything serious. Everything except for A. The four girls still needed to figure out when they would tell their parents.

"You can leave now." Spencer said.

Anna had almost forgotten she had plans with Dylan.

Toby scrunched up his eyebrows. "Where is she going?" he asked.

Toby was still wary about Dylan. He didn't really like it when Anna went to see him. Anna looked at her mom for help.

"It's not important." Spencer said.

Toby still looked confused, but pushed the issue aside. Anna hugged her dad goodbye. Anna hugged her mom to and whispered in her ear, "Thank you."

Spencer replied with a tight squeeze and a kiss on the top of the head.

"Be safe." Mrs. Cavanaugh said to Anna.

"I will, see you in a few hours." Anna responded.

She then walked out the door and into her car. She texted Dylan.

 **I'm going to be a little late. I have to make a quick stop.**

 **-Anna**

He texted back after a few minutes.

 **Okay. I'll see you soon.**

 **-Dylan**

Anna put her phone down and drove to Zoe's house.

* * *

Anna pounded her fist against the door. After a few minutes somebody finally answered.

It was Alison, her face tear stained. Oh, right. Zoe had finally told her parents about Daniel.

"Hi, Anna." She said, wiping her face.

"Hey, Mrs. DiLafields." Anna said.

Alison brought her hand up to her face and rubbed the tears away. "I'm sorry I look like such a mess, todays been tough."

Alison frantically rubbed at her face. She was mumbling and crying and shaking all at the same time.

Anna reached out and grabbed Alison's hands and brought them down from her face.

"Its okay, Mrs. DiLafields. Calm down." Anna said, calming her down.

"Anna, you don't understand. Zoe's been through so much, I just don't understand-" She started freaking out again.

Anna shushed her and grabbed her hands again. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me I know."

Alison stared at Anna confused. "You know?"

"Zoe told Kara, Rose and I not long after it happened." Anna said.

"And you didn't say anything?" Alison said, sounding hurt.

"It wasn't my business to tell anyone. Only Zoe had the right to tell." Anna said.

Alison blinked away her tears and nodded her head. "Okay, so why are you here?"

"I want to talk to Zoe. Congratulate her for finally telling people who can help her."

"It's been a long day for her. She is in her room sleeping right now." Zoe's mom said.

"It's still light out." Anna pointed out.

"Like I said, it's been a long day." Alison repeated.

Anna sighed for the millionth time today. "Can I come back tomorrow?"

"Of course. She should be better by then." Alison said.

Anna nodded her head and stepped back as Alison closed the door.

Anna got back in her car and rubbed her face. She looked at Zoe's house. In the window, Anna saw Emily in kitchen. She was crying too. Alison walked into the kitchen and into Emily's arms. Anna knew how hard this must be for the two of them. But they were strong. They've had plenty of practice for handling tough situations. They had to fight of A, remember?

Anna put the car in reverse and drove to the park.

* * *

When she got there, she met Dylan in the spot where they first bonded. Where Anna had her asthma attack and Dylan helped her.

He was sitting down on the grass on top of a blanket; waiting for Anna.

Dylan was facing away from Anna, so she took this to her advantage. She silently snuck up behind him and hesitated when she was directly behind him. Anna lunged at Dylan and knocked him over in a hug.

"Ah!" He yelled when he was tackled to the ground.

Anna laughed as he was pinned to the ground. "Gotcha." She said happily.

Dylan grunted, still face down. "Can I get up now?" He asked; his voice barely audible.

"Nope." Anna said, only pushing harder.

Dylan's body shook as he laughed. "Are you going to make me force you up?" He said.

Anna scoffed. "If you can."

"Is that a challenge?"

"I guess it is."

Dylan turned his head to the side so Anna could hear him better. "What do I get when I win?"

"You're not going to win, so anything you want because you won't get it."

Dylan looked at Anna and raised his eyebrows.

He caught Anna by surprise and quickly shot up from the ground. She yelled out in surprise and forced all the weight onto his back. He grunted but managed to stay up.

Dylan stood up and ran a few feet away from Anna.

Anna stayed put and yelled, "You want to remake the first time we met here?" to him. She was referring to when she had the asthma attack.

"No." Dylan yelled back.

"Then get back here." She yelled back.

Dylan walked back with a confident stride. Anna tried her hardest not to smile; she hated when she lost.

When he was in front of Anna again, she asked, "So what do you want?"

"You were serious about giving me something?" He asked, surpised.

"Yeah." Anna said it in a way that made Dylan sound stupid.

Dylan looked at Anna. "Anything I want, huh?" He said.

"Anything." Anna said, staring back.

"Okay, tell me more about A." He said, unexpectedly.

"A?" Anna said surprised. She thought he was going to say something completely different.

"Yeah. I haven't been able to see you recently since your dad doesn't really trust me, and you haven't told me any A related things since Kara got locked up in your shed." Dylan said.

He was right. Anna hadn't told Dylan anything recently.

Anna sat down on the blanket and patted the spot next to her, signaling for Dylan to sit next to her. He sat down and looked at Anna seriously.

"First thing you missed were the cameras." Anna started.

"Cameras?"

"Yes, the cameras. Rose was attacked by A, but when they tried to escape they dropped a flash drive. On it was video footage of all of our houses. That's how A always knew what we were doing. They had live footage of us."

"This creep has been watching you twenty four seven?" Dylan asked.

Anna nodded her head.

"Even while you changed?" Dylan asked.

Anna never really thought about it, but yeah. A _had_ watched the girls change. There were cameras in all of their rooms and Anna always changed in there. The thought of A seeing her naked made Anna want to throw up.

"They must of seen us exposed at one point or another." Anna said.

Dylan looked angry and scared at the same time. "When did you get rid of the cameras?"

"We destroyed the last of them a few days ago." Anna answered.

"Only a few days?" Dylan asked, the fear taking over the anger.

"Yeah?" Anna responded, confused.

"So the cameras were up when we, you know…" He trailed off.

Anna's eyes opened wide at the realization.

"Oh my god." Anna murmured.

"Dammit, so they were up?" Dylan asked, now looking terrified.

Anna said nothing; she only nodded her head slightly.

Dylan put his head in his hands and started ranting on how stupid they both were.

Anna grabbed Dylan's hands and brought them away from his face.

"It's okay," She began, "Rose still has the flash drive. I can ask to borrow it and delete all the old files. I should be able to delete the video."

"But what if there is more than one video? A could have more copies." Dylan brought up.

"I don't think there are any more videos than the ones on the flash drive. If there was more than one copy, A would leave us alone and not try to get the flash back."

"So are you saying that A has physically attacked you again?" Dylan asked.

"Not me. Well, not any of the girls. A sent Kara's dad to the hospital. He worked with camera's and video footage, so it makes perfect sense that A sent Caleb to get the videos somehow and get them back, but when he refused, A beat him up." Anna said. It amazed her on how it just now clicked how well the Caleb and A story fit.

"I have no idea what you just said but I'm going to trust you."

Anna smirked a little and looked at the ground. "I'll delete the video as soon as possible."

"Be safe when you do it." Dylan said.

Still looking at the ground, Anna said, "Of course I'll be safe. I've had a lot of practice with A."

Dylan grabbed Anna's chin and lifted it to where Anna and Dylan's lips were inches apart. Anna closed the gap and the two shared an intimate kiss.

When the two broke apart, the words slipped from Anna's lips.

"I love you."

Anna expected Dylan to pull away, or at least give her a weird look. They haven't been together for that long, and saying 'I love you' is a big deal.

Dylan only smiled and said, "I love you too." Like he had said it a million times before.

The two went back for another kiss and only broke up when they heard a noise in the distance.

Anna looked at the source. The last person Anna had ever expected to see was standing in the park.

"What is it?" Dylan asked.

Anna stared at her. "Is that Chelsey?"

Dylan wiped his head around and looked at Chelsey. "We have to go!" Dylan said, grabbing Anna's hand and flinging her up from the ground.

"-Wait, why?" Anna said when she landed back on the ground.

"If you don't remember, she is the one who left me and left my heart broken."

"And if you don't remember, that night was the same night I got my back shredded and Chelsey had saved me."

Dylan opened his mouth and then closed it. He realized Anna was right and let her speak.

"I want to say thank you to her." Anna said.

"Do you have to?" Dylan asked.

"Yes I have to. If she didn't find me in the woods, I would probably be dead from bleeding out."

Dylan looked sad but didn't protest.

"You can stay here, but I'm going to talk to her."

"Just don't mention that I'm here." Dylan said.

Anna grabbed Dylan's hand and squeezed it as a thank you. She then released his hand and walked over to Chelsey.

When Anna was close enough, she yelled her name. "Chelsey!"

Chelsey turned around and looked at Anna up and down.

"Do you remember me, Chelsey" Anna asked. She remembered how Victoria had told Anna how Chelsey found her in the woods when she needed to go to the bathroom. Chelsey may not have _saved_ Anna, but she made an effort.

"I'm really bad with faces, what's your name?" Chelsey said.

"Anna. Anna Cavanaugh." Anna answered.

Chelsey's face lit up at the realization, and then it dimmed. "Oh yeah, the girl from the woods."

"Yup, that's me. That night is actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I just wanted to say-" Anna was interrupted

"-You're the one that stole Dylan from me." Chelsey said, giving Anna a mad glare.

Anna's mouth was still open from her dropped sentence. She quickly formed words. "I did not steal him. I was a friend to him and when you left him in the maze to be with other people, he came to me in the hospital and we bonded. It's not my fault you left him." Anna snapped back.

"Look, I don't remember much about that night, but I know that I didn't leave him." Chelsey said through gritted teeth.

What was that supposed to mean? Anna rolled her eyes and looked back at Chelsey. "Look, you may not like me, but I just wanted to thank you for at least attempting to help me that night."

"Yeah, whatever." Chelsey said, not looking at Anna.

Done with her attitude, Anna decided to end the conversation. "Now, is you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my boyfriend who is waiting for me on the other side of the park." Anna winked and then walked away.

When she got to Dylan, Anna grabbed his face and kissed him passionately, knowing that Chelsey was watching.

When they broke apart Dylan asked, "What was that for?"

"Can't a girlfriend kiss her boyfriend?" Anna asked.

"Not like that when you're in the middle of the park." Dylan said.

"Okay, I knew Chelsey was watching." Anna said.

"Are you jealous of Chelsey?" Dylan asked, smiling.

"No, she's just a bitch and I wanted to make her feel bad."

Dylan looked at Anna with raised eyebrows.

"I can't believe you dated her."

"Well, when you get on her good side, she isn't that bad." Dylan said.

Anna stared at Dylan with fire in her eyes.

"Shouldn't have said that." Dylan said after the stare.

"Yeah, did you forget what she did to you?"

"Nope. It's always there."

"That's why I want her to feel that pain."

"Good point." Dylan said.

Then he smirked and grabbed Anna's face. This time _he_ kissed _her_ passionately.

When they broke apart, Anna looked over to the direction that Chelsey used to be.

"She isn't there anymore." Anna said, smiling in victory.

Dylan laughed and gave Anna a high five.

Anna looked up at the sky. It was getting dark.

"I should get home." Anna said sadly. She really wanted to stay with Dylan.

"Do you have to leave?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah. My mom knows I'm out with you. She's starting to like you, but she is still worried when we are alone together."

"Okay, well I won't keep you."

Anna smiled and gave Dylan a small good-bye kiss.

The two then got in their separate cars and drove home.

Anna plopped into bed. She was planning on spending a majority of the next day with Zoe; it must be hard for her now that her parents know about Daniel.

Anna was asleep, but a text woke her up. Anna grabbed the phone and squinted to read the text.

 _ **Talk to Chelsey again and I will slit your throat.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna turned off her phone and found trouble finding sleep again.

* * *

Rose took a sip of her coffee. She was at the brew waiting for Zak to show up.

As she waited, Rose scanned the room. Nothing was out of the ordinary; the dimly lit room, the customers, Owen.

Rose almost chocked on her coffee. She looked at Owen scrubbing a table.

Should she go up and confront him? Or should Rose pretend that she hadn't seen him and wait for Zak.

She looked at Owen and back to her coffee several times. She thought about what he did to Kara. How heartbroken she was. How Owen had left her clueless.

The memory of the pain on Kara's face was enough to make her stand up. Rose walked over to Owen and when she got behind Owen, she tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around and looked at Rose, a mixture of question and fear was on his face.

"Rose, what are-"

Rose put her hand out and interrupted him. "- No, you don't get to speak."

Owen closed his openly hanging mouth.

"I want to know what the hell is wrong with you, Owen. Yeah, I get that you're mad at Kara for not telling you about A sooner, but what you need to understand is that this A person is a psychopath. He's done crazy thing that you wouldn't understand the fear enough of unless you were there. A has made plenty of threats to all of us, but Kara has it a little worse. Yeah, we all get a little dose of our own torture, but nothing hurts worse that someone you love getting hurt. This A person attacked her dad; knocked him unconscious. Have you seen Kara's dad before? He is an adult, full grown muscular man and you could have easily replaced him and _you_ could have been the one passed out in the street, except if it was you, you would probably be dead because you are a lot smaller that Caleb. So be thankful that it took you this long to find out. You got a little more innocence than the rest of us." Rose finished. To add to the affect, Rose gave Owen a death stare.

He tried to keep eye contact with Rose, but her stare must have been too much because he looked away.

"I understand how dangerous this situation is," He began, still looking away, "but it upsets me that she didn't tell me. Yeah, I would be in a lot of danger, but at least I would be able to protect her a little bit better." He finished.

Rose grunted. "Ugh, you don't understand Owen! There is nothing you can do about this! _Nothing!_ Trying will get you killed. Sure, nobody has been killed _yet_ but that's because nobody has tried to stop A for good yet. But if you want to be the first to try, go ahead." Rose said. After her speech, she turned around and started to walk out of the brew.

Almost out the door, Rose heard Owen call her name.

Rose turned around and allowed for Owen to catch up to her. "What?" Rose said, clearly irritated.

"Does Kara hate me?" He asked.

"I know she's upset. The last time I saw her she was trying to explain an A problem but she could barely get through it since she was still crying over you, but no. I don't think she hates you." Rose said, still giving Owen a disgusted look.

"When should I go talk to her?"

"The sooner you can the better. Every minute that passes is another minuet dealing with the pain you caused."

Owen nodded. "I'll go after work."

"When do you get off?" Rose asked.

"I stay till closing time."

"Don't you close really late?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Eleven o'clock."

"She'll be asleep by then, she's had a rough week. See her first thing in the morning. Come up with an apology speech or something that will win her back." Rose said.

"Thanks Rose. It might have taken me forever to figure it out, but I really need Kara back." He then smiled.

Rose tried her hardest not to smile back; she still held a little grudge against Owen.

He continued to stare into space and smile. It was starting to freak Rose out.

"What are you thinking about?" Rose asked, hoping to stop the crazy staring.

"Kara. I'm just imagining the happier side of her. I hope that I can see it again."

Rose cracked and smiled. "God, then start figuring out that speech."

"I will thanks, Rose." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, no problem." Rose said, taking his hand off her shoulder.

He laughed. "I have to get back to work."

"And I have to go meet Zak."

They had an awkward goodbye, but they said it and Rose was now in her car. She pulled out her phone and dialed Zak's number.

"Hey, beautiful." He said after one ring.

Rose blushed and said, "Hey. Do me a favor and skip the brew. Just come to my house."

"If that's what you want." He responded.

"Yeah, the brew just doesn't sound good to me right now."

"Okay, I'll leave in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Love you." Zak said.

Rose pinched her eyes closed and smiled. "I love you too."

They then hung up the phone. Rose put it aside and put the car in reverse.

She drove home with butterflies still in her stomach.

* * *

When Rose got home, Zak was already in the driveway.

She got out of the car as Zak got out of his.

"Hey, sorry. I thought I would get home before you." Rose said, opening the door up for Zak.

"It's okay. Where were you anyway?" He asked when they were both inside the house.

"The brew." Rose answered.

"Weren't we supposed to meet at the brew?

"Yeah, long story. I just didn't want to be there anymore."

Zak pulled Rose into a hug and said, "That's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"Thanks." She said into his chest.

When the two broke their hug, Zak asked, "So what did you want to see me for?"

"Well, I wanted to see you, but I also have another question about that flash drive."

"I thought you destroyed all the cameras?" Zak said.

"I did. But I found something else on it." Rose said.

Zak's face changed. Worry and confusion both showed up.

"What was it?" He asked frantically.

"Zak, calm down. I didn't look at it yet. I just wanted you to be here with me when I open it."

Zak nodded his head. "Okay, show it to me."

Rose led Zak up to her room and opened her bra drawer. She dug until she found the little black device.

"Here it is?" Rose said, holding it out for Zak to see.

He tried to grab for it but Rose shot her hand back. "Hey, it's not yours." Rose said, holding it behind her back.

"It's not yours either." Zak pointed out.

Rose kept the flash drive behind her.

"Rose, can I please see it."

"Nope." Rose was trying to be playful. She wanted to make Zak tackle her for the flash drive, but he only seemed to be getting angry.

"Rose." He said. He was not amused at all.

"God, grumpy. Now you're defiantly not getting it." Rose said, squeezing her fist tighter around the flash drive.

"Then how are we going to see what's on it?" Zak said, holding his hand out for the device.

"I'm a big girl, Zak, I can do it myself. I just wanted you to be here when I do it." Rose said, getting annoyed herself.

"I don't think you should look at it." Zak said.

"Why? The files could give us clues on who A is!" Rose yelled.

"What if you're not mature enough to see what's on that?"

Rose scoffed. "And _you_ are more mature than me?"

"There's a age difference between us, remember?" Zak said.

"Not that big of a gap! God, why are you so uptight all of the sudden?"

"Aren't you scared of what you will see on it?"

"No, not really. And if you're not happy that I'm opening the flash drive that belonged to my stalker and I want to see if I can use this to stop them, then you can leave!" Rose shouted.

"Rose, look-"

"LEAVE!" Rose shouted even louder.

Zak closed his mouth and walked towards the door.

Rose followed him to the front door and opened it for him.

Watching Zak walk out hurt. Rose understood what Kara was feeling. Were they broken up or just going through a faze?

Halfway out the door, Zak said. "Don't look at the flash drive."

Rose pushed on the door and forced Zak out. She watched him drive away and when his car was out of sight, she released her first tear.

What was his problem? Did he know what was on the flash drive?

Rose didn't overthink it. She just put the flash drive back in her bra drawer and crawled into bed. She fell asleep with tears rolling down her face.

* * *

 **AN: I know, this is crazy. I thought I would make a chapter with the other three girls perspectives to balance out the one with just Zoe's.**

 **Anyways we are** _ **verrrryyyyy**_ **close to finding out who one of the A's is, so hang tight.**

 **And I know a lot of you are wondering about Caleb, but all of it will be answered soon.**

 **Love you all!  
-Jessica**


	20. ReveAl

**AN: Heyo!**

 **Welcome Dutchess Frost and Summer3! Thanks for following!**

 **I'm very happy that you guys are still enjoying the story!**

 **Start leaving reviews on your theories, I want to know if I am either leaving to little or to many clues on who the A's are.**

 **Also, I might be late for these next few chapters. I have midterms coming up and I only have 1 out of my 6 midterm packets done so I really need to focus on school, but I also can't leave you all hanging.**

 **I'll do my best; don't worry. I won't leave you in the dark.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 18!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PLL**

* * *

Kara woke up to her mother shaking her.

"Kara. Kara, wake up!"

Kara's eyes flung open and she grunted at her mom. "What time is it?"

"It's almost 11:30, now get up someone is here to see you." Hanna said with a small smile on her face.

Kara shot up. It was almost 11:30? She never woke up that late. And also, someone was here to see her?

"Who wants to see me?" Kara asked after rubbing her eyes.

"Go look for yourself." She said, still smiling.

"Mom, were not playing this game." Kara said, giving an emotionless expression.

"Just go downstairs!" Hanna said, shaking Kara again.

Kara grunted and flung the blankets off. Without brushing her hair or anything, she walked down the stairs.

Her vision was still blurry from her sleeping, but Kara knew who was standing there.

Kara ran to him and punched him hard in the shoulder.

"Kara, ow! That hurt!" Owen said, grabbing his shoulder.

"What are you doing in my house?" Kara said sharply.

"I came to apologize. I know now that I was stupid of me to get angry for you telling the truth."

Kara was silent; all she did was glare at him.

"I knew you would give me the cold shoulder so I came prepared." Owen said, lifting up his eyebrows.

Still silent, Kara crossed her arms.

Owen looked at Kara and cleared his throat.

"Like I said before, I'm so stupid. This A person is crazy and will do anything to make your life miserable and I shouldn't think so highly of myself. There is no way I can help you from them because I simply don't understand enough. Sorry, but it's true; I can't help. I understand that you may hate me and I'm okay with that. I was being too pushy and it's not any of my business to question anything you say. You're the expert and I trust you to do what's right. So you can either throw me out and never speak to me again, or you can understand that I am miserable without you and I miss you. I miss the fact that I can't see you every day and the fact that you might hate me only strengthens the pain. But please know that I could never hate you. Nothing in this world will ever make me not love you."

Kara was silent. She wanted badly to forgive him; to jump in his arms and break the tension and forget everything. But she couldn't. Not yet.

"I won't forget the fact that you left me clueless for days. You walked out the door and didn't come back. You avoided me! You didn't answer my calls or texts and you didn't make any effort to contact me. A lot has happened to me these past few days and I needed you so badly. But you weren't there and I didn't know if I would ever see you again." Kara stopped as a tear rolled down her face. There were tears on Owen's face to.

When he said nothing, Kara began again.

"But I don't hate you. I never did. And I want to forgive you, I want to get back together, but I can't right now. I just can't, I'm sorry I don't have a good reason but…." Kara shook her head. She was truly at a loss of words.

"It's okay, Kara. Take your time. But just know that I won't give up. I won't stop until I see your smile again." Owen said.

"Yeah, I hope I'll see it to." Kara said, looking at the floor.

"We will." He said.

Without saying anything else, Owen walked out the door and drove away.

Kara brought her hands up to her face and rubbed away the tears.

"What was that about?"

Kara turned around quickly and noticed her dad standing in the middle of the room.

"Boy troubles." Kara said, sniffling.

"Oh. Yeah, you'll have to talk to your mother." He said, walking over to the couch. Kara followed.

Kara sat down next to her father and began to play with her hair.

"If you're going to ask me about that night…" Caleb began.

"I just don't understand why you can't tell me. What is so bad about it?" Kara said.

Caleb was silent as he looked at the wall in front of him.

"It's scaring me." Kara said, looking at her father.

Caleb finally looked at his daughter. "You're scared?"

"Of course I am. There is somebody out there who almost killed you and we still don't know who it is. And the fact that you won't tell me anything about it frightens me even more." Kara said strongly.

Caleb sighed. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!" Kara said matter-of-factly.

Caleb let out a sharp breath. "I've been working for this person for a while. I never knew their name or anything. I didn't think anything was weird of it; I just thought that this company was ashamed that they needed help with something and they didn't want me to know so I didn't question it."

The story sounded legit so far. It didn't sound like Caleb knew he was working for A so a huge weight was lifted off Kara's shoulders.

Caleb continued, "I was given a flash drive and a simple task: Decode the password and when I got the password, I was told not to look at what was on it. It was easy to get the password. I didn't mean to see what was on it, but when I unlocked the password, the files all popped up. They all seemed familiar. I clicked on one and…" Caleb stopped.

Kara waited for him to speak again, but he didn't.

"What was on the file?" Kara asked.

"I don't know if your mom would want me to say." Caleb said, avoiding eye contact.

"Mom? What does mom have to do with…" Kara trailed off. It was obvious that A had put Caleb up to this decoding, and if Hanna was involved somehow, there was only one thing that could be on that flash drive.

"It's A isn't it?" Kara said.

Caleb looked at Kara with a confused look. "How do _you_ know about A?"

Kara exhaled. "I know how mom and her friends were all attacked by A. I know how it began with Mona and then CeCe Drake took the game over, and I know about the dollhouse and torture."

Caleb stood up and rubbed his forehead. "How do you know all this?"

Kara remembered that night in the hospital. "Mrs. Cavanaugh."

"Spencer?" Caleb said rather loudly.

"Yeah." Kara said, rubbing her hands together.

Hanna soon entered the room. "What about Spencer?"

Caleb turned to his wife. "Kara knows all about A."

Hanna walked over to Caleb quickly. "How does she know?"

"Apparently Spencer told her."

"When?"

Kara stood up and crossed her arms. "Can you not talk like I'm not here?"

Both parents looked at Kara. "When did Spencer tell you?" Caleb asked.

"When Anna was in the hospital. Mrs. Cavanaugh was alone and upset so I went over to comfort her and she just kind of spilled it. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to force anything out of you guys. Someone stalking you is a big deal so I thought I would let you tell me on your own time." Kara admitted.

Both parents sighed. "We were going to tell you soon. Hanna said with her eyes closed.

"You were?" Kara asked, uncrossing her arms.

"When I saw the files with all the old A things I got suspicious. I thought maybe A was going to go after you, Kara, so I refused to work for them and apparently they didn't like that."

"So it was A who attacked you." Kara stated.

"No, I don't think it's A. I think it's someone who is _trying_ to be A. It couldn't have been CeCe. They took her away a long time ago." Hanna said, joining the conversation.

"Like you said, that was a long time ago. She could have been released and now she's back." Caleb said.

"It's not A." Kara said out of know where.

Both parents looked at Kara. "And how do you know?"

Crap. Did Kara just reveal the girl's secret. No, she could reverse it.

"I don't know. Why would CeCe try to get videos of her doing these things? It's obvious that the person you were working for wanted the videos so badly, like they didn't want you to see anything on it." Kara said to Caleb.

Kara turned to Hanna. "And, mom, you lived through half the things on the flash drive so why would it matter if you saw it. It's no secret, everyone in Rosewood knows about the creepy stalker who stalked five innocent teenage girls. So why would CeCe freak out and try to get all the videos off and have to resort to violence?"

Hanna and Caleb looked at each other. After a few seconds Caleb said, "You have a point. I also don't think CeCe would even be able to tackle me and knock me out."

"When did you get so smart?" Hanna asked.

"I must get it from you." Kara said to her mom.

Hanna laughed. "No, it's not from me. It was always Spencer who solved all the mysteries. I just brought the snacks."

Kara gave a little laugh. "I have to go. I promised Rose I would go hang out with her today."

"Okay, but be safe." Caleb said.

"I will don't worry." Kara said.

She hugged her parents and headed for her car.

Kara had lied. She hadn't made plans with Rose. But she needed to get out of the house.

Kara sat in her car and picked up her phone. She dialed Anna's number.

She picked up quickly.

"Hey, Kara, now isn't a good-" Anna began.

Kara didn't let her finish. "They know."

Anna stopped. "What?"

"My parents, they know about A. Well, they have suspicions. I tried to get the idea out of their heads but there sticking to it."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Anna said.

"That's what I want to talk to you all about. Can you call Zoe and tell her that we all need to talk while call Rose?"

"I'm at Zoe's right now. Just call Rose and meet us at Zoe's."

Kara nodded and hung up the phone. It wasn't till the call ended until she realized that Anna couldn't see her nod so Kara had just completely hung up on Anna.

It didn't matter; Anna understood that Kara was in a hurry. Kara picked her phone again and called Rose.

* * *

"I hope you don't mind if Kara and Rose come over." Anna said to Zoe when Kara hung up the phone.

"It's okay. It sounded pretty serious, what's going on?"

"Kara's parents are catching on to the A thing." Anna said.

Zoe closed her eyes. "Crap."

Anna felt bad that she had to add more stress to Zoe's life right now.

Anna had come to Zoe's house an hour ago to comfort her. It must be hard telling your parents that something that terrible has happened to you. Also, telling the police is another huge step. Now she is going to be dragged into all these court things and another huge weight will be on her shoulders.

Anna looked over to Zoe. She looked tired. She had bags under her eyes and her face was droopy. Actually, now that Anna was getting a good look at her, Zoe looked terrible. She was a lot skinnier, and she still shook a little.

Without realizing, Anna reached over from across the bed and hugged Zoe.

She tensed up at first but then wrapped her arms around Anna.

Anna squeezed and then released Zoe.

"What was that for?" Zoe asked when they broke apart.

"I just realized how bad your life is." Anna said.

Zoe laughed a little. It was the first time Anna had seen Zoe laugh in a while.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad." Zoe said.

Anna studied Zoe's face and noticed something. "Not to sound rude or anything, Zoe, but have you seen yourself lately?" She said cautiously.

"I try to avoid it." Zoe replied.

"Zoe, you don't look that good. You're really skinny and you have bags under your eyes."

"The bags are because I can never sleep. I lie in my bed all night long terrified of falling asleep. Every time I close my eyes I see A, or Daniel, or both."

Anna could relate. She had constant dreams of A and the knife.

"Are you eating?" Anna asked.

"Anna, don't be stupid I'm not trying to starve myself. I just have so many things to do that sometimes I forget."

Anna shook her head and grabbed Zoe's wrist and pulled at it, forcing Zoe off the bed.

"Anna, what are you doing?" Zoe asked.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Anna asked.

"I forgot." Zoe said.

"Exactly. We are going down stairs right now and getting you some breakfast." Anna said, resting her case.

"But I don't want to go down there. My moms will just start questioning me." Zoe said, pulling her arm from Anna's grip.

"You can't avoid them, Zoe. They just found out that you were raped. That's a terrifying thing to happen and they are scared out of their minds. They are only trying to make sure that you understand that they are worried."

"I know. I'll talk to them eventually, but can you please just get something for me?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah. Just stay here, I'll be right back." Anna said, walking out the door.

Anna then went down to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. She found a box of fruit loops and grabbed that.

"Anna, what are you doing?"

Anna turned around and saw Emily standing behind her.

"Zoe was hungry and wanted me to get her breakfast." Anna replied, getting a bowl.

"Why didn't she come down and get it herself?" Emily asked.

"She's still really tired and she didn't want to get out of bed." Anna lied.

Emily sighed and got the milk out for Anna. Anna took it and poured the cereal and milk into the bowl.

Anna looked at Emily while doing this. She looked sad.

"Don't worry, Mrs. DiLafields. Zoe isn't avoiding you. She will talk to you; you just need to give her some time." Anna said.

Emily handed her a spoon and said, "How is it that you always know what everyone is thinking."

"I'm a Hastings, remember? It's what we do." Anna replied, grabbing the spoon.

Emily smiled. "Just tell Zoe that Alison and I love her."

"I will." Anna said, smiling back.

With that, Anna was back in Zoe's room.

Anna gave the bowl to Zoe and said, "You better eat all of this."

"I'm starving, trust me I'll eat all of it." Zoe said, taking a big spoonful.

"You really need to talk to your parents. They love you and your mood is affecting them. They almost look as sad as you." Anna said.

"Can you stop making me feel guilty? Cory and I told them last night. I want some time to process what happened okay." Zoe said, shoving more Fruit Loops into her mouth.

Anna scrunched up her eyebrows. "Cory was with you? That kid from therapy?"

"Yeah, I still didn't tell you the story did I?" Zoe said, twirling her spoon around the bowl.

"No. Now spill." Anna said.

"Okay, well… .I was walking home from therapy when I saw Daniel."

Anna's eyes grew wide. "Daniel? I thought the police had to keep him away from you. They know you're in therapy so he shouldn't be any were near the building."

"Maybe they didn't know I had a session yesterday." Zoe said.

"No, my dad is on your case. He knows where you are twenty four seven." Anna said.

"Your dad is in charge of me, not Daniel. Whoever was in charge of watching him obviously wasn't doing their job." Zoe said.

"Okay, so what did Daniel do?" Anna asked, getting back on track.

"I made a loud noise and he saw me. I froze up as he started walking towards me. I don't know what his intentions were, but we were on an empty street and I was thinking the worst."

Anna nodded her head along with the story.

"I tripped over my purse and fell down and he was in front of me. He kept trying to talk to me but I was too scared to open my eyes. He got angry and grabbed my wrist. It brought back these memories and I screamed out of fear."

As Zoe was saying this, Anna looked at Zoe's wrists. She noticed that there were no new cuts, only scars.

"Thank god Cory heard me." Zoe said, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers, a small smile on her face.

Zoe continued, "He fought of Daniel, knocked him out cold actually. He encouraged me to call the police and he was there for me for the entire process. He was there when I told the police and he was there when I told my parents."

"He's really important to you, isn't he?" Anna said.

"Yeah." Zoe said quietly. She was blushing now.

Anna grabbed a pillow and threw it at Zoe. "You like him!" She said when the pillow hit Zoe.

Zoe grabbed the pillow and threw it at Anna. "Don't put words into my mouth!"

Anna caught the pillow. "If you like him, make the move."

"I kind of already did." Zoe said under her breath.

Anna's mouth hung open. "What did you do?"

"I kissed him."

"Zoe!"

Zoe smiled and laughed.

The door opened from behind the girls and Kara and Rose walked in the room.

"Wow, nice job Zoe." Rose said.

"Did you guys hear our entire conversation?" Zoe asked, her mouth now hanging open.

"Yeah, we didn't want to interrupt." Kara said, sitting next to Kara and Zoe on the bed.

"Wow. You could of-" Anna was cut off.

"Look, I'd love to talk about it but we need to talk about my parents." Kara said hastily.

Anna closed her mouth. Right, the whole reason on why all four were together was because Mr. and Mrs. Rivers were catching on.

"Right, so you said that your parents are starting to question about A?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. My dad finally told me what happened that night." Kara answered.

Anna perked up. "What did he say?"

"Well, he's not working for A. Well, he was, but unknowingly. He thought A was just a normal customer but when he unlocked a flash drive, there was a whole bunch of footage from when all our parents were attacked by A. When he refused to work for A, they attacked him." Kara answered.

"So now your dad thinks that there is someone else out there like A?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, something like that. And he thinks that they are going to go after me." Kara said.

"Well, he's right." Zoe said.

Anna looked over to Zoe. She put the cereal down, it was still rather full. Anna made eye contact with Zoe and nodded her head at the bowl. Zoe rolled her eyes and picked the bowl back up and took more bites.

"Do you think all the old A stuff is on the flash drive I have?" Rose asked.

"It has to be. If it's the same person who attacked Caleb who dropped the flash drive, than what else could be on it?" Anna said.

"Do you still have the flash drive?" Zoe asked with her mouth full of cereal.

"Of course I still have it." Rose said, leaning against the door.

"Well, why haven't you looked at the file?" Kara asked.

"I was going to but…" Rose trailed off as she fiddled around with the rose necklace Zak had given her.

"But what?" All three girls said at the same time.

"I wanted Zak to be there when I looked at it but he kept trying to convince me not to look at it. I kept questioning why he was getting so defensive but he kept begging me not to open it. We got in a fight and I yelled at him to leave." Rose said sadly.

"Why would he be freaking out over you looking at the file?" Anna asked.

"He said that he didn't think I was ready to see what was on it." Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Does he know what's on it?" Anna asked.

"I don't know. I forced him out before I could ask anything else." Rose said.

"You have to look at the file now." Zoe said.

"I don't know if I want to." Rose mumbled.

"If you don't want to, I will." Kara said.

Rose was silent for a few seconds. "No, I'll do it. I almost died getting that thing; I should be the one to open that stupid file."

"Okay, go do that." Kara said.

It was awkwardly silent. Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean now?"

"Yes, we could find big evidence oh who A is." Kara said.

"I'll call you guys after I look at it." Rose said.

The girls nodded and then Rose left.

Kara turned to Zoe and Anna. "So what do I do about my parents?"

Anna thought for a minute. "Let them question. If you keep adding to their suspicion they might connect the dots and find out."

"So you just want me to keep them clueless?" Kara asked.

"That's the only thing you can do right now."

"Okay, but when are we going to tell our parents? I'm sick of keeping this secret. They can help us! They found out who there A was, they can sure help us." Kara said annoyed.

"Did you forget that A attacked your dad only a few days ago? That was only because of one little bad decision he made. What do you think will happen if they join the mystery and dig deep into A's mind?" Zoe said cleverly.

For once, Kara kept her mouth closed.

She looked at the floor and said, "Okay, I won't tell them."

Anna looked at Kara sympathetically. "I know; it's hard. Every time I see my parents I feel guilty for lying to their faces. I just want to fall into their arms and say everything. But if I do that, I'm scared that A will go after them to."

"It's okay, Anna. I can be a good actress when I need to be." Kara said.

Anna smiled. "I know."

All the girls gave a little laugh.

Kara left shortly after that. Not long after she left, Anna decided on leaving to. She made sure Zoe had finished the whole bowl and walked downstairs to exit the house.

When leaving, Anna passed Emily and Alison in the kitchen.

"Are you leaving, Anna?" Alison asked.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks again for letting me come over." Anna said to the both of them.

"No, thanks for coming over. The only thing that seems to be making Zoe happy is you, Rose and Kara." Emily said.

"You guys make her happy, she just doesn't show it that well."

"I just want to talk to her." Alison said to nobody in particular.

"Give her an hour, she'll be better then." Anna said.

The moms nodded.

Anna nodded back and headed for the door.

Halfway out, she remembered something. "Oh, Mrs. DiLafields!" Anna called out.

Both moms replied with, "Yes."

"Zoe told me that she keeps forgetting to eat. She is just busy and forgets, so just remind her. She's not doing it on purpose, she truly is forgetting." Anna said.

"We will thank you." Alison said.

The three said their goodbyes and Anna walked out the door for real this time.

When Anna got home, she ran right up to her room and avoided everyone.

The need to tell her parents about A was strong right now, and Anna was scared that if she saw their faces, the truth would rush out.

* * *

After everyone left, Zoe took a nap.

Yes, she slept really well last night, but Zoe never seemed to get enough sleep.

She woke up to her phone ringing. She was going to ignore it but she saw that the call was from Cory.

She picked it up and answered.

"Hey, Cory." She said in a groggy voice.

"Hey… did you just wake up." Cory asked.

"Yeah, I took a…" Zoe looked at the clock. "…twenty minuet nap."

"It's nice to know that you are catching up on your sleep."

"I don't think it'll last long. Life just doesn't treat me that fair." Zoe said, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"Don't talk like that. You speaking negatively isn't good for you."

"That's all I can think about. I don't want to leave my room because I know my parents will question me and I really don't want to talk about it, and being in my room all alone only brings the thoughts."

"Do you want to be alone?"

"Not really."

"I'll be there in a few minutes." Cory then hung up.

Zoe brought the phone down from her ear and looked at the "call ended" screen.

She put the phone down and smiled.

She waited until she heard a knock at her door.

Knowing it was Cory, Zoe said, "Come in."

The door opened and Cory walked in. He sat down in the chair to her desk next to Zoe's bed.

Zoe wasn't sure on how she should greet him, so she just stayed on her bed.

It was awkward between the two, since the last time the two say each other, Zoe flat out kissed him.

"So now that I'm here, what do you want to talk about?" Cory said, breaking the tension.

Zoe thought. She needed something that would clear her mind.

"Remember when you said that if I told you why I was in therapy, you would tell me why you were there? Well, now you know why I'm there. Can you tell me now?"

Cory chuckled. "I was wondering if you would remember that." He then sighed.

"I don't forget anything." Zoe said with a smirk.

Cory had a small smile on his face, but when he started his story, it quickly dropped.

"Not that long ago, I was in a bad place. I did bad things, I was on drugs, I smoked I drank, basically everything a parent was scared of. When my parents found out, they kicked me out of the house."

Zoe couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was only the beginning of the story and Zoe was already in shock. Cory, one of the nicest people Zoe knew but now he sounded like one of the things Zoe was afraid of. Zoe said nothing and allowed Cory to go on.

"I moved in with a friend who was just as bad as me. I missed home so much and I wanted to go home, so I tried to stop, but being around someone who is doing the thing you're trying to not do makes it ten times more difficult."

"Is that why you go there? Do you still do all that stuff?" Zoe asked. She hoped that the answer was no.

"No, I don't do that anymore. I went to therapy for that, but that's not why I'm there now."

Zoe gave a confused look. "Then why are you there?"

"I'm guessing you have noticed my limp by now?" Cory said.

"Yeah I have. But the building isn't for physical therapy."

"It's not. One night, I got in a fight with the person I was living with and I left out of rage. I was stupid and I stomped out into the road, not looking where I was going. I got hit by a truck."

Zoe's heart sunk at the news.

"I flew right over the hood. You would think that the driver would stop, but it didn't, it just kept driving. I was out on the side of the road for hours until a nice little minivan stopped and drove me to the hospital. I was crushed so badly and couldn't speak so they made me a John Doe and they didn't know who to call so I would lie in the hospital bed afraid that I would die without making up with my parents."

Zoe could sense how uncomfortable Cory was. Zoe had no idea that this is what has Cory in therapy. She never put much thought into it, but she didn't expect it to be this bad.

Zoe got up from her seat and hugged Cory. He hugged back and breathed heavily into Zoe's hair.

"You don't need to tell me anymore." Zoe said, squeezing Cory.

"I haven't told anyone in a while and I really just want to get it out." Cory said.

Zoe released the hug, but held onto Cory's hand. She nodded for him to go on.

"For months I couldn't speak. I couldn't move or do anything. It wasn't the fact that I couldn't do anything, it was that my family had no idea where I was. When I finally could speak again after three months, I told the doctors who my family was and when they contacted my parents, they didn't even seem concerned. They said that they didn't even notice that I was gone. Yeah, I didn't call much but I did call, and they didn't notice that for _three months_ their son was missing! They never came to see me since they thought it was my fault that I got hit. They thought that I was high or drunk or whatever and it was my fault and they never worried about me when they were the only thing I could think about. The limp is from the truck, but the therapy is for the abandonment."

Cory's eyes were watering.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea, I feel terrible for making you tell me." Zoe said, still holding Cory's hand.

"You didn't force me to do anything. I choose to tell you and it feels nice that I don't have to keep secrets from you anymore."

Zoe looked at Cory in the face. She noticed that Cory looked a lot like Zoe. He had big bags under his eyes.

"Do you have nightmares about it?" Zoe asked.

"Were not that different, Zoe. I have the same dream every night. I leave the house and without any warning, the truck comes from out of nowhere. I lie on the side of the road as the truck continues to drive in slow motion. I make eye contact with the driver and passenger. My parents see me on the side on the road but they don't stop."

"I have nightmares that around every corner Daniel is waiting for me. I get stuck in place and have nowhere to go as I watch Daniel abuse me. I relive that night in the woods in my dreams almost every night."

Zoe just now realized how similar her and Cory were.

"When is your next therapy session?" Zoe asked.

"When do you think? We go the same day."

"Right. Well at least you don't have to sneak up on me anymore." Zoe said.

"Oh, I'm still going to do that."

They both laughed.

Cory stood up. "Thanks again for understanding."

Zoe stood up to. "Thanks for telling me."

The two hugged, and when they broke apart, Cory placed a small kiss on Zoe's lips.

"I have to go." Cory said.

"Why?" Zoe asked. She didn't want him to leave.

"I have physical therapy for my leg."

"Right. Well you don't want to miss that."

"Maybe I can for one day…"

"No! Don't skip because of me. We can text when you get out."

"I can agree to that." Cory then smiled and gave Zoe a good bye hug.

Zoe then finally left her room and walked Cory out of the house.

She watched him drive away and then she darted to her room.

No, she was not avoiding her parents. Zoe only wanted to think of what she was going to say to them.

She was terrified, but she knew she had to do it.

* * *

Rose was determined to see that file.

Absolutely nothing was going to stop her.

Rose got home to an empty house; Rose's parents must be out seeing a movie or something.

She ran up to her room and opened her bra drawer. Rose dug through and found the flash drive in the exact spot that she left it.

She gripped it tightly and took a deep breath.

Chances were that the only thing on the extra file were the videos that A wanted Caleb to find.

Yet, Rose was still terrified. Her stomach was doing backflips. If Rose knew what was on the file, why was she so terrified?

Rose put the file into the laptop and waited for the file to pop up.

As soon as it did, her phone buzzed.

 _ **I wouldn't do that.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose silenced her phone and looked back at the laptop screen.

The file popped up and Rose dragged her mouse over it.

Shee released he breath she was holding and opened the file.

At first, Rose had no idea what she was looking at. There were hundreds of files.

She clicked one and a video popped up.

The screen was dark, but a lot of commotion. Like the sound of struggle, then the sound of metal clinking together, and then silence.

The image blared to life when someone pointed a flashlight into the backyard. Rose was looking at Anna's back yard. The camera was pointed at the shed. The shed had locks on it. This must have been the night Kara was put in the shed full of snakes.

Rose watched as A fiddled around with the lock. It looked like they were trying to open it, but that can't be true. It's A. They have no soul.

Dylan then ran at A and tackled them to the ground. Now that Rose was re-watching this, Rose now realized that A didn't run. It's almost like they wanted to be caught.

A switched positions and they were now on top of Daniel and they hesitated before punching Dylan. In the meantime, Rose watched herself flick off A. She would do it again in a heartbeat.

Rose remembered that that night, everyone thought that A had punched Dylan, but now seeing it from a different angle shows A hitting the ground hard next to Dylan out of frustration. Why was A such a mess that night?

A then ran away as the group got Kara from the shed.

A ran towards the camera that was far from the group.

As A ran to it, the camera moved quickly at an awkward angle, the filmer, probably the other A, didn't want A to know that they were filming.

For the first time ever, Rose heard the voice of the A who was at the shed.

"I can't keep doing this. It isn't right."

Rose tensed up. She knew that voice.

She watched as the filmer who was also wearing a back hoodie, definitely the other A, took their gigantic fist and jammed it into the other A's arm.

They grunted, and once again, Rose recognized it.

Rose prayed that it wasn't true. She prayed that she hadn't been played, that he one person she enjoyed most was all just one of A's games.

A brought his hand up to his face and removed the mask.

Rose's heart sunk.

On the screen, dressed in all black, was Zak.

Rose let out a weird sound. A mixture between a sob and a scream.

On the screen, Zak began talking again.

"I refuse to hurt these girls, its-"

Rose closed the laptop and ripped the flash drive from her laptop.

She gripped it hard until her knuckles were white.

Tears flowed from Rose's eyes.

She had been played. Her whole relationship with Zak was fake, set up so A could get through to the group more easily.

But why Rose? Was she the most vulnerable? Or was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time when A sent out Zak to get close to one of the girls.

Rose noticed that she was twirling the rose necklace Zak had given her. She immediately stopped. She gripped the rose and ripped the necklace from her neck.

She had to stop crying. A could see that she was vulnerable right now, and they may try to pull something on Rose.

She walked over to her mirror and wiped away her tears. She fixed her make up so it looked like she was never crying. She stared at herself. The thoughts just kept coming back.

Why her?

She felt tears start to form again so Rose looked away.

She took a shaky breath in and out and said to herself, "I'm not going to cry." Over and over again.

Rose needed to get out of her cluttered room. She exited her room and made her way downstairs. She just needed to walk around.

When Rose entered the kitchen, someone was waiting for her.

Keeping her voice as steady as she could, Rose said, "Zak, what are you doing here?"

He jumped at her voice and he turned around and all Rose wanted to was punch him, but she kept her cool while he talked.

"Hey, I really wanted to apologize. I was a jerk last night and I can't force you to do anything."

Rose shook her head. "That's not why you're here. If you were expecting to see me, you wouldn't have been so shocked when I showed up."

Zak looked shocked. "No, I came to see you and apologize because I love you."

That was it. The four words that were nothing but a lie. The words Rose hoped were true, and was desperate enough to say back.

"You don't love me. You love this." Rose said, holding up the flash drive.

Zak's smile dropped. "You watched it?"

Engulfed with anger, Rose yelled, "Of course I watched it! How could you do something like this? How could you play with something and say all these things and not mean it? How soulless are you?"

Zak's look grew serious. "I meant every word I said to you. I kept telling A to leave me alone, to stop getting me to do their dirty work. But every time I refused, they would do something to you."

"It doesn't matter. Before you even got to know me, you still took the job of torturing me. You let me believe that you cared!"

"I do care!"

"If you did care then you wouldn't be hurting me and my friends!" Rose yelled.

She then threw the flash drive at the wall and it shattered into a million pieces.

Zak's face was full of astonishment and sadness, but he must be a good actor if he's working for A, so Rose felt no remorse.

"You can have this back." Rose said through gritted teeth. She took the rose necklace and chucked it as hard as she could at Zak.

It didn't go very far since mid-throw, Rose body hunched over in a sob. It landed just in front of his feet.

He picked it up and looked at it sadly.

"Now get the hell out of my house. Better yet, get the hell out of my life." Rose said as tears went down her face again.

"Rose, if you let me explain-"

Rose interrupted him with a slap.

He said nothing in shock.

"I don't care what you have to say! Just get out of my life!" Rose said, holding her hand that was stinging from the slap.

Zak said nothing as he headed for the door. When he was out the door, he turned around to say something but Rose slammed the door before his mouth was even fully open.

Rose sobbed as she leaned against the door. She slowly slid down and put her face into her knees.

This was Rose's first heart break, and it was the most painful thing she has ever felt.

* * *

 **AN: EHHHHHHHH**

 **So much happened.**

 **If you go back and re- read parts with Zak, there are a lot of A clues I have so you can see how his A journey progressed.**

 **Also, leave a review saying if you suspected it was Zak. I kind of made it obvious in the last chapter but I don't know if all of you caught on.**

 **Also, DID YOU SEE THE PREMIER OF PLL 6B!**

 **I'm so excited for this season.**

 **I'm sure the show and my story will be confusing at times, but let's just pretend for now that everything in 6b hasn't happened unless I say it did, just because I know that there will be new mystery's that I will have to fit in later.**

 **Love you!**

 **-Jessica**


	21. May the truth set you free

**An: Hello! Happy Saturday!**

 **XNoahStuartX and BabycakesOx followed and favorited so thank you!**

 **This chapter is going to be another important one so….**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer I do not own pretty little liars.**

* * *

 _Zoe stood in a dark place. She didn't know where, but it was dark and empty._

" _Hello?" She called out._

 _The sound of Zoe's own voice was the only thing that echoed back._

 _Zoe grew cold. She shivered in the darkness._

 _Hands gripped Zoe's shoulders. She let out a short scream and ran a few feet in front of her._

 _Frightened, Zoe stood in place. In the distance, Zoe could hear screams._

 _A Single light beamed on a figure: Anna. She was chained and bloody and extremely skinny._

 _She looked at Zoe and her eyes lit up, knowing that there was some hope. Her face drained of life as she fell to the ground, the reason unclear to Zoe._

 _When Anna's body hit the ground, Zoe let out an agonizing scream._

 _The light then flashed on Kara. She looked the same as Anna, chained up, bloody, skinny and tears strolling down her face._

 _The same thing that had happened to Anna happened to Kara. Zoe let out another scream as Kara's lifeless body fell to the ground._

 _The light now flashed on Rose. Knowing what was going to happen, Zoe tried to run to Rose and save her. But something was wrong, Zoe ran and ran, but it seemed that Rose was only getting further and further._

 _Rose let out a scream before she fell to the ground._

 _It got dark again, but in a matter of seconds, the light now shined down on Zoe._

 _With tears rolling down her face, Zoe looked down at herself. She was chained, bloody, skinny, and tears strolled down her face._

 _Knowing what was about to come, Zoe braced herself and closed her eyes. When nothing happened, she opened them._

 _The light was still on her, but why hadn't she fallen to the ground yet?_

 _Zoe felt like someone was behind her. She tensed when she heard the small, muffled sound of someone breathing. Zoe remained silent and began to rotate her body. Slowly, she made a 180 degree turn. Her mouth opened and she let out a loud scream when she saw the hooded figure behind her._

 _A brought his hand up to his face and removed the mask. Under it was Daniel, smirking that smirk._

 _Zoe screamed again and tried to run, but Daniel grabbed her chains and pulled her closer to him. Clawing at the ground, Zoe tried to get away, but she couldn't._

 _Now under Daniel, Zoe stopped fighting. Hands on her shoulders forced Zoe to roll over and look up at Daniel._

 _He smiled at her and lifted a knife._

 _The light turned off and Zoe was faced with the darkness again._

 _A sharp pain shot into Zoe's neck and she screamed._

* * *

Zoe shot up from her bed screaming, covered in sweat and blood.

She screamed louder when Zoe noticed the blood was everywhere. Where had it come from?

Alison and Emily burst into Zoe's room looking terrified.

They rushed over to Zoe and pulled her from her bed. Both parents cradled Zoe and whispered things like, "It's okay, your fine, he can't hurt you and it was just a dream," into Zoe's ear.

Zoe sobbed into her mothers' chest. This wasn't the first time a nightmare had woken Zoe up in the middle of the night, but it was the first time blood was involved.

Alison noticed first. She released Zoe and noticed the blood on her shirt.

She grabbed Emily's hand. "Honey, where did the blood come from?"

Zoe shook her head. "I don't know." She repeated over and over again. Zoe brought her hand up to her head and felt a warm sticky substance that had to be blood.

Zoe's eyes widened as she brought her hand down her face and onto her throat, which stung.

Zoe felt the blood seep through scratched on her neck.

"Oh my god its mine." Zoe said.

Emily quickly turned on the light and both parents gasped.

Blood was everywhere. Zoe was shocked that she hadn't passed out yet.

"Get her downstairs." Alison said to Emily, as she grabbed one of Zoe's arms.

Emily quickly grabbed the other and the three made their way downstairs.

The whole way down, Zoe kept saying. "It's mine, its mine." Over and over again.

Her parents shushed her, but Zoe couldn't get over the fact that she sliced her own neck open in her sleep.

Now down stairs sitting at the kitchen table, Zoe looked down at herself.

Her parents were saying something but Zoe drowned them out. Zoe's fingernails were covered in dry blood. She must have taken her nails and scratched her neck.

Zoe snapped back to reality when a warm washcloth was pressed on her neck.

Zoe looked into the crying face of Emily.

"What happened?" She whimpered.

"I had a nightmare." Zoe whimpered back as Emily wiped all the blood from Zoe's body and wrapped something around Zoe's neck to help stop the bleeding.

"Not the nightmare." Emily said into Zoe's eyes.

Zoe knew exactly what they were talking about.

Alison walked over to Zoe and held her hand. "Please, Zoe. This thing that happened to you is obviously terrorizing you, I mean look at yourself."

She didn't need to look to herself to know that she looked terrible.

Maybe this was the last straw. Sure, Zoe has hurt herself intentionally before, but now she is attacking herself in her sleep.

Zoe nodded. "Can I put on some clean clothes first?"

Both parents agreed and Zoe took her time changing. When she came back downstairs, she saw her moms waiting for her on the couch.

She sat across from them and tried to avoid eye contact.

Without a warning, Zoe began.

"It started the week I skipped school. I remember that Jason was here and we just found out how it was Rose who wrecked his car. You both wouldn't t let me leave and all I wanted to do was go outside. I don't know what changed your mind, but you let me go."

Emily and Alison kept their mouths shut.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was only walking! Then I heard Daniel call my name. I thought that if I kept walking, he would ignore me. No, he needed to talk to me. He grabbed my shoulder and started yelling at me because I told the cops how he hit me. I don't know what sparked it but he got really aggressive and I tried to run away but he was faster than me. He caught up and knocked me over."

Tears started to form in Zoe's eyes. She had never dug this deep into the memory before. It surprised Zoe how much she remembered about that night.

Her parents looked like they were about to start crying to. Zoe could understand why, and Zoe hated the fact that she needed to make her parents go through this. She was tired of seeing her moms cry.

Zoe continued with tears now streaming down her face.

"I kicked and punched, I did everything I could to get away. He dragged me into the woods and pinned me down. I screamed, hoping that somebody would hear me, but nobody did. He started to…" Zoe was hesitant on getting to the actual rape part. She had to do it.

"He started to kiss me all over the place." Zoe said through gritted teeth. She was more mad then sad now.

"He moved his hands all over my body and he stripped me down. The whole time I was screaming but nobody heard. Then it happened, it hurt and I couldn't do anything. All I could do it scream."

Zoe wiped away a stray tear and sniffled.

"That seems like the only thing I'm good at: Screaming. I've had plenty of practice." Zoe said to herself. She was tired of screaming and she was tied of being afraid.

"When did it stop?" Alison asked.

Its felt like forever since one of them talked.

Zoe couldn't say how A had attacked Daniel yet, so Zoe had to make one more little lie. She hated it but she couldn't betray her friends.

"It stopped when he wanted it to stop."

Alison and Emily both had tears streaming down their faces. They were gripping each other's hands to the point where there knuckles were white.

Emily got up first. She lunged at Zoe and wrapped her into a tight hug. Alison quickly joined.

They cried and Zoe cried.

That was another thing that Zoe was sick of. She was sick of crying.

Zoe took sharp breaths as she cried in her mothers' arms.

"I'm sorry." Zoe kept saying.

Her parents took turns shushing her and saying that it wasn't her fault, but it was.

If Zoe wasn't such a weakling, and was strong enough to stand up to Daniel, Zoe wouldn't have to go through all the pain that she does now.

Even though it sucked, Zoe was happy that she finally told her moms. Now there was only one secret instead of two.

"Zoe, we got a call from Toby earlier today." Emily said out of nowhere.

The three broke apart and Zoe stared at her parents suspiciously.

"What was it about?" Zoe asked.

"We wanted to tell you as soon as we got the news, but Cory was over and we didn't want to interrupt you two." Alison added.

"What is it?" Zoe said, urging them to spill it.

"Remember that bag of clothes you gave Toby?" Emily asked.

"Yes." Zoe responded, hoping to get good news.

"Well, they ran tests and found Daniel's DNA on them." Emily said.

Zoe's eyes expanded. "Does that mean that…" she trailed off, not getting her hopes up.

"Yes, Zoe. They caught him. Daniel is guilty, they are taking him away." Alison said.

Zoe's mouth was hanging open. She didn't know how to respond to it.

"I'll never see him again?" Zoe asked hopefully.

"Nope." Both moms said at the same time.

Zoe let out a weird noise that was a mixture of a squeal and a sob. Both from happiness.

Zoe leaped into her mothers' arms again. She sobbed in their arms but this time it was tears of joy.

She was still crying, and Zoe hated crying, but at least it was a start.

* * *

Rose didn't want to get up.

Ever since she found out about Zak, Rose crawled in bed and didn't get up.

Even when her parents came home from their date, Rose didn't get up to greet them.

They had to come to Rose and when they asked her how it was going, Rose only grunted.

She found herself crying on and off. She would cry, but then stop and remind herself that she needed to be angry, but then Rose would start to think about Zak again and the tears would roll down her face.

Rose rolled over and looked at her phone.

No A texts.

Rose knew that exposing Zak wasn't going to fix the A problem.

There was still a second A that Rose was too dumb to ask about.

Rose sat up and picked up her phone. She started to send out a group text and ask for Anna, Kara and Zoe to come over so Rose could tell them about Zak.

She thought about how she would say it. She couldn't say, "Hey, guess what I just found out, my boyfriends A, isn't that fantastic!"

Rose knew she would break down saying the words out loud.

She put the phone down. Rose just found out a few hours ago, she still needed time to process what was going on.

She would tell them soon, but not now.

Rose flopped back down and covered her face in the blankets. She pinched her eyes closed and tried to forget about everything, but the darkness only brought the image of Zak in the black hoodie.

A small sob escaped Rose's lips. She was trying to be as quiet and possible. If Rose's parents heard her crying, they wouldn't stop questioning until they knew the problem.

Rose stayed extremely quite when she heard footstep by her door. When it was silent again, Rose let the noises escape her mouth and the tears escape her eyes.

To add to the pain, Rose's stomach growled extremely loudly.

The room was silent.

"You hungry?" Rose heard her mother say from under the covers.

Dang it.

Rose sniffled silently. "No."

Rose heard footsteps cross her room. "Rose, honey, when was the last time you ate?" Her mother asked, stopping at the foot of the bed.

Rose threw the covers off her face and said, "Can you please leave, mom?"

Aria looked at Rose sympathetically. "You've been crying."

Rose turned her head and wiped the stray tears. "No I haven't."

"You can wipe the tears away but your eyes are still red."

Rose grunted. "What do you want?"

Aria now sat at the edge of Rose's bed. "I want to know what's wrong."

Rose rolled over, facing away from her mom. "Nothing's wrong."

Aria grabbed Rose and pushed her towards her. "Rose, I can tell when you're upset."

"I just don't feel very well." Rose lied.

Aria could tell.

"Rose. If you don't want to talk to me, fine. But at least talk to someone, like Anna or Zak."

Rose's heart dropped at the sound of his name. Another sob escaped her mouth and she covered her face.

Aria's face grew a serious look. "Rose?"

"What?" Rose said, tears still going down her face.

"Rose, what's going on?" Aria said a little more seriously.

When Rose said nothing, Aria pulled the blankets off of Rose.

"Rose, answer me." Aria said after the blankets were off.

Rose shot up from her bed when the coldness of the open air hit her legs. Her face was right in front of her mom's.

Aria studied Rose's face. "How long have you been crying?"

Rose sniffled. "All day."

Aria grabbed her daughter's hand. "Honey, what's wrong."

Rose couldn't take it anymore. She needed her mom. All Rose did was mutter a single word and her mother understood everything.

"Zak." Rose said extremely quietly. She was surprised her mother could hear her.

"Did he break up with you?" Aria asked showing an extremely sympathetic look.

Rose let out another cry and fell into her mother's arm and continued to cry into her chest. "I broke up with him." Rose said, still sobbing.

Aria wrapped her arms around Rose and began to rub her back. "What did he do? Did he cheat on you?"

Rose did a mixture of a laugh and a cry. "Worse." Rose said in a voice muffled by her mother's chest.

Aria stopped rubbing Rose's back and stayed silent.

After what seemed like forever, Aria finally said. "What did he do?"

Rose copied her mother and stayed silent. If she opened her mouth she would spill that Zak was A.

"Rose." Aria said. She repeated this several times but Rose kept her mouth shut.

Aria grabbed Rose's face and made Rose look at her. "Rose, what did he do to you?" She said sternly.

Rose closed her eyes as a stray tear rolled down her face.

"He destroyed me." Rose mumbled.

Aria scrunched her eyebrows, confused. That gave her no information.

"He destroyed me." Rose said a little more angrily. "Me, and Kara and Zoe and Anna."

Aria stayed silent, still having no clue.

"He broke us." Rose said looking away. "He picked with our brains and made us believe things and hurt us emotionally and physically. He would torture us with the texts and we would be terrified for what it meant and we would go crazy waiting for it to happen. And the worst part is that he played me. He let me believe he loved me while he went and played with us like dolls."

Aria's eyes grew dark. The doll reference maybe made her understand.

"Rose. What are you saying?" Aria said, her voice shaking.

She didn't care anymore. She didn't care if Kara, Anna and Zoe hated her. Rose felt like she had no soul anymore. It ripped out of her and walked out the door with Zak. He got what he wanted. He has officially broken her.

Rose lifted her head and looked at her mother in the eye.

"Zak is A."

Aria released a big breath she was holding. "What?"

"I mean that Zak has been sending the four of us texts labeled as A and he has been stalking us with cameras he set up in each of our houses in almost every room, and he knows all our secrets, he has all the information on when _you_ were attacked by A. Zak has been terrorizing us for months and has been making us lie to you. He and some other freak are the one who dragged Anna in the woods and cut up Anna's back; they kidnapped Kara for a night and locked her in Anna's shed full of snakes. They beat up Kara's dad and forced him to do work he didn't want to do. He tricked me into thinking you were dying by playing you screaming on a loop. He led me to the basement and locked me down there and forced me to watch you in the dollhouse. Then, when all the footage was watched, he attacked be and strangled me and pinned me against the wall and probably would have killed me. He dropped a flash drive with all kinds of A stuff and when Zak begged me not look at it I couldn't help myself. I looked and saw him wearing the black hoodie. The terrorizing and manipulation wasn't the worst part. It was the fact that he managed to make me fall in love with him and make me trust him, so I would tell him all the news and he would use it to find another way to mess with us, and the part that disgusts me the most is that I still love him. I love A, and I know he did terrible things but I can't wrap my head around it and it sucks." Rose finished with sharpness to her voice.

Aria was speechless as tears began to form in her eyes. "Zak...A...Zak is... Zak is A?" She fumbled with her words.

Rose nodded her head. "There's more than one, mom. And this time, they have new targets."

Aria let out a shaky breath and stood up. She mumbled to herself, "A is back." Several times.

Eventually Rose slumped back down onto her bed and covered her head with the blankets to block out the sight of her mom pacing. The pacing was stressing Rose out.

"Ezra!" Aria screamed for her husband.

When he didn't come, Aria walked out of the room to go get him. "Ezra, we have a problem!"

Rose kept her eyes shut to prevent more tears. Somehow, none came.

Yes, Rose betrayed her friends, but she only did what they all were afraid to do.

Maybe Rose wasn't the weakest one after all.

* * *

 **Short but affective chapter.**

 **So yeah, this is what I meant when I said that one of the girls was going to be so damaged and finally tell so yeah, you can thank Rose!**

 **I also want to give credit to Leapyearbaby29, she gave me the amazing idea of Zoe telling her parents after a nightmare. Thanks Leapyearbaby29!**

 **Also, I know I say this a lot, but I know for sure that I can't post a chapter next week, I'm visiting my sister for the weekend but I will try to post early in the next week.**

 **But... the next chapter will be the parent reunion so get prepared for it!**

 **I love you!**

 **-Jessica**


	22. Reunion

**AN: Are you ready for the parent reunion?**

 **I am!**

 **Saraschneider2012, Alliecat99 and prettylittlekenzie all followed and favorited! Thank you all!**

 **I feel like this chapter is going to be confusing so I hope that you all can follow!**

 **Okay, here we go!**

 **Enjoy chapter 20!**

* * *

The news spread like wildfire.

It went from the Fitz family to the Cavanaugh's, the Rivers and lastly, the Dilafields.

Rose thought that everyone would be mad at her, but surprisingly they weren't. They thanked her.

Moments after Rose told her mother, she texted the other three about Zak and how she spilled it.

The girls pushed the whole secret telling thing aside and comforted Rose on Zak.

Rose was grateful for that; it let her know that Zoe, Anna and Kara cared more about her than A and all of their secrets.

The next day everyone knew. It was hectic, Aria and Ezra kept asking Rose questions, and she would answer them, but it didn't feel right without the other three.

"Wouldn't it be better if you invited everyone over so we only need to explain it once instead of all the information being mixed together and being processed differently?" Rose said when her parents were throwing her questions.

That one sentence sparked all the chaos.

Almost immediately after that the Fitz called everyone ever involved with A and told them how a new A was in town and invited them over the next day.

The hours leading up to the event felt like waiting for Christmas morning. Except instead of presents waiting under the tree, it was stress, tears and sweat.

It's now ten minutes until everyone is supposed to come. Rose waited by the window, waiting for the first car to pull up.

"They won't be here for another ten minutes, you don't have to wait." Rose's father said when he saw Rose by the window.

Still looking out the window, Rose said, "If I leave I won't want to come back."

"Look, I know that this is happening fast, but this is a serious problem. This A character has been a problem for so long and we need to solve it before it gets too big."

Rose turned around fast, slightly angered. "You think I don't know that? Did you forget that I've been A's target for the past months? You don't need to tell me how bad this is okay, I'm living it. I was in a relationship with A for god's sake; you don't think I feel that pain?"

Ezra's expression grew sincere. "I know. I know exactly how you feel."

He then walked over to the windowsill that Rose was sitting on and sat next to her.

"You'd be surprised on how much I can relate to you." Ezra said, getting comfortable in his seat.

"How? It's not like mom was A. She wasn't stalking you." Rose said.

"I was on the other end."

Rose sat straight up. "You were A?"

Ezra let out a breath of air that could have passed for a laugh. "God no. But I did kind of stalk her."

Rose stared at her father, not knowing what to think. "You stalked her? Why?"

"I was selfish. I was obsessed with this book I was writing and your mother was a main character. When we first met I already knew who she was and I was only with her at first for my book."

Rose had tears forming in her eyes. "What?!" She said, giving her dad a disgusted look.

Ezra noticed this. "You don't need to give me that look."

"You did exactly what Zak did to me. You played mom! Does she know about this?"

"Of course she does, she found out back in the old A days. She was extremely upset with me and she hated my guts. It took a while but I finally got her back on my side."

"When did you stop?" Rose said, talking about the book mentioned earlier.

"I stopped not that long after I actually started talking to your mother. My heart took a detour and I fell in love with her so I stopped."

Rose still didn't know what to think.

"Rose you don't need to look at me like I'm a monster. I'm not. I went in and out of that book faze but I'm over it."

Rose thought for a long time. After a few minutes, the only thing she could come up with was, "Wow. I come from some messed up family."

Ezra laughed and pulled Rose into a hug. Rose gladly accepted her father's hug and embraced the familiar warmth she always felt when she was around him.

Rose squeezed him. She didn't hug him enough. Rose didn't know why, but she didn't. Now that the secret was out, A could do anything to the family. Every hug counted.

When Rose felt her father's arms loosen, she squeezed even tighter.

"No. Don't let go."

His arms quickly wrapped around his daughter again.

Tears now started to fall from Rose's eyes as all the bad things rushed into Rose's eyes. She was still so young and Rose was scared for her life.

She had this weird feeling in her gut that something terrible was going to happen. Something awful. Rose didn't know what, but she did know that it will happen.

The pain made Rose cry even harder. Ezra took his hand and started to cradle his daughter.

Rose's muffled voice sounded from Ezra's chest. "Why us?"

"That's all any of us ask." Ezra said softly.

Rose finally allowed herself to free herself from her father's arms.

He took his fingers and rubbed the tears from her face.

"No matter what happens, just remember that your mother and I love you."

Rose grabbed her father's hands from her face and gripped them tightly.

"And remember that I love you too."

Ezra smiled and Rose smiled. It felt like forever since she smiled.

She quickly turned her head when she heard her phone buzz from the kitchen table. She got up and picked up the phone.

 _ **Let the games begin.**_

 _ **-A**_

That's when the doorbell rang.

* * *

Kara and her family were the first ones there. Not that far after did the rest of the gang show up. Once everyone arrived, the parents jumped straight to the questions.

The first one of course was to explain everything since the first text.

All four girls took turns explaining.

At the end of the story, it was silent.

"Is anyone going to say something?" Kara said, annoyed that she had to be here.

She would much rather be telling her parents on her own and not dealing with the drama of everyone else.

Kara's parents gave her a look that said 'knock it off.'

Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath in and out. She had to take into consideration that this was serious in the parent's eyes.

"Sorry." Kara said not long after the thought.

Everyone brushed it off.

Toby was the first to speak. "Rose, you said you got strangled by A for a flash drive?"

"Yeah I did. When they lured me into the basement and tried to strangle me, they dropped it."

"Well what was on it?" Caleb then asked.

"Live footage coming from all of our houses. We destroyed the cameras as soon as possible." Rose explained.

"We?" Caleb questioned.

"Zak." Rose answered painfully.

"Isn't Zak that A guy?" Caleb said. This time Kara gave a glare at her dad. He knew about this so why is he questioning Rose.

"Yes. It was before I found out." Rose said, anger starting to show in her voice.

Kara jumped in. "Yes, he helped destroy the cameras but that was part of the act. Then she looked closer on the flash drive and saw a video of Zak in the black hoodie." Kara said quickly, she wanted to get past the explaining part and to the solving part.

Everyone, even the parents, stared at Kara.

"Can we solve this now?" Kara said, slouching back in her chair.

"Kara, what is up with you?" Hanna said.

"I just want this to be done with."

"I get that but you don't need to have an attitude." Hanna said in her calm but upset voice.

"Oh, Hanna leave her alone. You had just as much as an attitude when you were her age." Spencer said.

Kara looked at Anna's mom. Spencer smiled and winked at Kara. Kara smiled back at Spencer.

When Kara looked back at her mom, she had a blank face, obviously embarrassed. This brought another smile to Kara's face. It took a lot to keep Hanna's mouth closed and Spencer did it in just one sentence.

"What else was on it?" Caleb asked, ignoring the fact that his wife just got roasted.

"Footage of A. I only looked at one video and I knew who one of them was. I was too stupid to dig deeper." Rose said, sounding disappointed in herself.

"Do you still have the flash drive?" Emily asked from across the room.

"No. When I found out Zak was A, I was devastated and wanted some air and when I walked down stairs he was there. I was upset and I threw the flash drive at the wall." Rose said, looking at the ground.

Kara leaned over and said, "Don't feel ashamed of yourself. Any sane person would have done the same thing."

Kara got a little smile from Rose so she figured her advice helped a little.

"Do you still have the laptop that you opened the file on, Rose?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah, it's in my room." Rose said to her dad.

Ezra then looked at Caleb and Toby and lifted up his eyebrows. Both seemed to catch on pretty quick.

"Do you think you can do some computer magic and get the file back?" Toby asked Caleb.

"We can try." Caleb said.

Kara had no doubt in her dad. She has seen him do amazing things and he could easily figure something like this out.

Ezra then turned back to Rose. "Go get the laptop."

Rose nodded and headed up to her room.

As they waited, Kara's phone buzzed. Frightened, she looked at the text.

 **Can we talk?**

 **-Owen**

Kara rolled her eyes.

"Who was that?" Kara heard her mother say.

She lifted her head up and everyone was looking at her. "Don't worry it wasn't A. It was just Owen."

"What does he want?" Anna asked.

"To talk." Kara said, rolling her eyes again.

"Are you?" Zoe asked.

"I kind of can't right now." Kara said, nodding her head over to the adults.

"Well, what about after. Having him on our side would be extremely helpful. He's smart and could help solve some of A's riddles if we need him." Anna pointed out.

"I don't know if you forgot, Anna, but Owen and I aren't really speaking." Kara said, staring down Anna.

"Just saying, you should give him a chance." Anna said back.

Kara was about to go off on Anna, but two things were holding her back.

Number one: Kara's parents and everyone else's parents were awkwardly watching the two go back and forth with boy trouble, and Kara couldn't exactly curse Anna out in front of both of her parents.

And number two: Rose had finally come back with the laptop.

"Give it to me." Caleb said when Rose returned. She walked over to Kara's dad and handed it to him.

Kara studied her father as his finger began to rapidly move on the keyboard. "I can definitely get the file back."

Kara watched as all the mothers exchanged glances. Then Hanna turned to the boys and said, "Good. Why don't you go do that somewhere quite so you can concentrate?"

Without questioning it, Caleb replied with, "Yeah, Okay. Good idea."

"Toby, why don't you go help." Spencer said.

"Ezra, you to. You all did such a good job finding us when we were in the dollhouse." Aria added.

The dads seemed confused but happy from the compliment. Without a word, the three then left to another room.

When the father's were out of the room, Alison said, "Finally, their gone."

Kara was extremely confused. "What?"

The five women got up from their seats and moved closer to the four children.

"They don't understand the torment and agonizing pain A can put you through. The best advice can only come from the victims." Spencer explained.

"And plus we don't really want them to be too involved with this. They had to deal with A since they met us so let's give them a break." Aria added.

Kara, Anna, Zoe and Rose all looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Zoe asked.

"This A is trying its hardest to be like the previous A's and they seem to be doing a pretty good job." Emily said.

"To know what A is thinking, we need to go inside the twisted mind of A." Aria said.

"Okay, enough riddles. What are you planning to do?" Kara said. She wasn't that smart and all these incomplete thoughts were messing with her head.

"They, mean that you need to talk to me."

All four girls whipped their heads around to find the source of the voice.

Even though Kara had never seen this woman before, she had a pretty good idea on who it might be.

Rose answered the question for Kara.

"Mona?"

* * *

All girls stared at Mona with weird expressions. Rose looked the most confused. She was probably questioning if she should go hug her aunt or not. After all, it was Mona who stalked the girl's moms in the beginning.

"Aria called me when she found out about this new A." Mona said, walking over to the girls. "Someone is really trying to copy me?"

Anna studied Mona. She seemed like a normal person. She was small, but from the way she talked, Anna knew that she was a mysterious, smart, and a dangerous person.

But she was also brilliant. The best way to find A is to look through the mind of a previous A.

Mona sat down next to the parents. She put her bag down next to her and then fixed her hair. The girls studied her. This women, this normal human being, is responsible for so many things.

When Mona was done, she gave everyone a questioning look. "Is anybody going to say something?"

"Why?" Anna said soon after that. "What was your motive?"

"I hated Alison. She was extremely rude to me and when she went away I took the opportunity to hunt down her friends." Mona answered simply.

Anna saw Alison grow a look of displeasure. "How is this back story going to help?" Alison said, annoyed.

"We can get a better understanding of A's motive." Anna answered.

"Well, Mona started the A theory because she had an enemy: Alison. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt us." Kara said.

"They don't have to hate us. They could be jealous. Cece Drake felt abandoned when she took over the A game. Our A could feel the same way." Anna said.

"Smart." Mona said. She turned to Spencer. "Is that one yours?"

Spencer gave Anna a proud look. "Sure is."

Anna smiled and blushed of embarrassment.

"Who would feel abandoned and why would they target us?" Zoe asked.

The memory popped into Anna's mind. She remembered when she was at the park with Dylan.

"Chelsey."

Everyone looked at Anna.

"Chelsey?" Spencer asked. "The one who found you in the woods?"

"Yes. I was with Dylan the other day and I saw her in the park. He didn't want me to talk to her but I did and when I approached her she seemed angry at me. She was mad that Dylan was with me and not her. She also said that she didn't remember the night well, but she knows she didn't leave Dylan alone voluntarily."

"What are you saying?" Emily asked.

"I'm saying that Chelsey could know some stuff about A. Or better yet, she could be A." Anna answered.

"Have you seen her since?" Spencer asked her daughter.

"No. After I talked to her I got a text from A saying that if I ever talked to her again, A would slit my throat." Anna said.

Worry and displeasure grew over the faces of the parents. Especially Spencer.

"A could be protecting her." Mona said.

"Why?" Anna asked.

"She knows things. If she was found unconscious in the woods, I highly doubt it was a black out from alcohol. A just needed a cover up story for their dirty work. They were stupid for leaving you, Anna, out in the middle of the woods with your back shredded to pieces, but since it was their first physical attack, they wanted to make sure you knew it was them, so they left your body. But to prove how strong they were, they dragged Chelsey into the mix. She was most likely the most vulnerable girl at the moment and when A was done using her, he knocked her out and planted her next to you and came up with the ridiculous idea of the blackout." Mona said quickly.

Anna was speechless. All four girls were, but the parents showed little shock. Big ideas like this must be normal for Mona.

"And you just came up with that?" Kara said in surprise.

Mona stared at the girls like they were lost puppies. "It's what I would have done."

Anna stared at Mona in awe. She was a lot smarter that Anna thought she was.

"You know what I think?" Mona said, picking at her nails.

"A is most likely that Dylan kid." Mona said, finishing her thought.

Anna shot up from her seat. "That is ridiculous!" Her thought on Mona quickly took a U-turn.

Mona jumped a little bit at the outburst.

"There is no way; you don't know any of the story." Anna said angrily, sending a glare at Mona.

"I know enough." Mona said, sending the glare right back at Anna.

Anna glared at Mona, waiting for her to state her reasons.

"You said he didn't want you talking to that Chelsey girl?" Mona stated.

Anna nodded her head. "Yeah, he practically begged me not to."

"Why? Why would he beg?" Mona said, lifting up her eyebrows.

"Because Chelsey broke his heart." Anna said, still angry.

"That shouldn't really matter now. She's been gone for a long time and how many times did he mention Chelsey?"

Anna thought about it. "Not that much."

"He was probably trying to keep her out of the question because he knows you're smart. Did you not notice that she has been missing for months? Nobody seemed to talk about her and nobody saw her around Rosewood." Mona said.

"Why would Dylan be a part of this?" Anna asked. She was trying to calm down but Mona kept making good points.

"You would think he would notice she was gone. She dropped off the face of the Earth the night after the incident. I think it's strange that he never mentioned Chelsey and that he didn't bother figuring out where she was. He could have forced Chelsey to keep quiet and when you saw her in the park, he didn't want you to talk to her because she could easily do something and you would catch on. And when you got the A text of A threatening you if you talked to Chelsey again, it could easily be Dylan threating you if you find out."

Anna shook her head. It made since, but she refused to believe it.

"No." Anna said. She started to pace, thinking of ways to deny it but she couldn't.

"Anna, sit down. I'm sure Dylan isn't A, he's too nice." Spencer said, trying to calm down her daughter.

"That's a perfect cover. Get close to someone in the group so you can get all the information. I did it to Hanna." Mona said, making it worse.

"Shut up, Mona." Hanna said to the snarky comment.

Mona then threw her hands up in defeat.

Anna stopped when another thought popped into her head. "Every time we see each other he always asks on the latest thing that happen and how much we know."

"See, it's obvious." Mona said.

"Oh my god." Anna mumbled. She put her hand up to her mouth as a small sob escaped her mouth. Anna also felt the tears start to form. She quickly regained herself and stopped the tears. She would _not_ cry.

"Getting close to one of you is the best tactic and Dylan took it." Mona said.

"So did Zak." Rose said to nobody in particular.

Rose looked like she was about to start crying also. All this 'getting close to get information' stuff applied to her to. In fact, Rose caught Zak red-handed, so this feeling was all too familiar to her.

"Okay, enough Mona. Give them a break." Aria said, she stood up and stood right in front of Mona.

"They don't get a break. This A thing is serious and if they are at all like me and Cece, they're dangerous and can hurt them at any moment." Mona said.

"Yes, but they are kids! You're putting thought into their heads that are too much for them." Aria fired back.

"We were the exact same age when the A thing started." Mona said loudly.

"And can't you see how broken we are?"

"ENOUGH!"

The room went silent. All heads turned to the speaker: Zoe. Quite Zoe who had barley spoken the entire time.

Zoe turned to Mona. "Mona, you need to stop. You're putting bad thoughts in the air that we don't even know is for sure true and it is obviously affecting Anna."

Zoe then turned to Anna. "And, Anna. Calm down. We all know Dylan, he is one of the nicest people I know, and he had been there for a lot of crap we've had to go through. Yeah, that could be a cover up but I highly doubt it. It's obvious that he loves you."

Anna stared at Zoe in awe. She rarely spoke out and she had said the right thing.

Emily and Alison looked at each other with their mouths open. They were obviously surprised too.

"And I think A is a girl." Zoe said.

"And why is that?" Emily asked.

"I've been extremely close to A." Zoe said.

Her parents looked shocked, but Zoe turned to them and said, "I lied a little about that night. Someone stopped Daniel. I thought it would never end but someone pushed him off of me. I stood still as I watched A beat the crap out of Daniel, and the body shape seemed female."

"A helped save you from Daniel?" Alison asked in shock?

"Yes. I don't know why, but they did."

Zoe then turned to Rose. "And Zak was a lot taller than the A who saved me so it couldn't have been him."

"So you're pretty sure A is a girl?"

Zoe nodded her head.

Anna closed her eyes. Her head was pounding and she just wanted this to be over.

"So who is going to talk to Chelsey?" Kara asked.

"I think we should all confront her." Zoe said.

Everyone's heads turned to Anna.

"Sure, let's do it." She said unenthusiastically.

She then stood up and walked to the front door.

"Anna, where are you going?" Spencer asked when Anna walked away.

"I just want some fresh air." Anna said. Truth is, Anna felt like she was going to cry, but she couldn't let anyone see her. In this time of trouble, someone had to be strong; someone had to be the shoulder to cry on. Anna just didn't want to be the one crying on the shoulder.

Nobody stopped Anna from going out the door, so she continued outside.

While on the Fitz's front lawn, Anna took deep breaths in and out. She wanted to believe what Zoe had said about Dylan, but Mona had a good point.

Anna said down in the middle of the front lawn and began to pick out pieces of grass. She soon fell back and stared up at the sky.

Anna watched the clouds. There were a lot. It was probably going to rain soon.

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about Dylan.

It was hard but she managed. Anna didn't know now how long she was out there, but time sped up again when her phone buzzed.

Thinking it was Zoe, Rose or Kara telling her she should get back inside, Anna looked at the text right away.

Anna could barely read it, but she knew it wasn't from any of them.

 _ **Yuo'er mnie now**_

 _ **-A**_

"You're mine now."

* * *

Zoe knew it wasn't Dylan.

Not for Anna's sake, or not because Zoe _wanted_ it to not be Dylan.

Even though it happened a while ago, Zoe remembers that night crystal clear.

A's body type was female. She might not have realized it at first, but Zoe was certain now.

Zoe looked at the clock. Anna had been outside for almost ten minutes. Zoe could only imagine what Anna was going through. Having someone you love accused of something so terrible?

Zoe wouldn't be surprised if she was out there crying.

"I'm going to go check on Anna." Zoe said standing up. She looked at her parents and Spencer. They both gave nods of approval so Zoe walked to the door.

When she opened it, Zoe saw Anna sitting in the middle of the front lawn. Silently, Zoe made her way over to Anna.

When she sat down, Anna made no motion.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked when she sat down next to Anna.

Anna took a deep breath in. "Yeah." She said as she exhaled.

"No you're not." Zoe said, she could tell when people were lying.

Anna looked at Zoe and it was obvious that she was holding back tears.

"I'm fine." Anna said plainly.

"No, you're not fine, Anna." Zoe said. "You're not fine and that's okay."

Anna turned her head away from Zoe and looked straight ahead.

Zoe turned and looked in front of her to.

"You're the strongest, you know? You don't let anything get to you. Well, at least not in front of everybody else. People might think, 'Oh, she just has it easy,' but that's wrong. You go through the same amount of crap everyone else does, but your better at hiding it."

Anna continued to look ahead, but she moved her eyes to look at the ground.

Zoe turned and looked at the side of Anna's face. "Anna, I want you to know that you don't have to hide anything that's going on. We're here for you just like you always are for us. You don't need to be the rock. You're human, Anna. Not some super human who can't let anybody know she is weak. So, please, Anna open up to me. I don't want you to think that you can't." Zoe said.

Anna took a shaky breath in as she turned her head to look at Zoe.

"I'm scared." Anna said. Then a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Zoe leaned forward and embraced Anna in a tight hug.

"That's okay." Zoe said into Anna's shoulder.

"This night has taken a complete U-turn and I just don't know how it ended up like this." Anna sobbed. Zoe could feel Anna's tears fall onto Zoe's back.

Zoe continued to hug Anna as she finally opened up.

"What if Dylan is A?"

Zoe now pulled away so she could look Anna in the eye.

"Dylan is _not_ A." Zoe said.

"How do you know?" Anna said, wiping the tears off her face.

"I just know. He can't be A, he doesn't haven't a mean bone in his body." Zoe said, smiling at Anna.

"But Mona said that's the perfect cover up."

"Don't listen to her. She's just trying to get into our heads."

"She knows how these things work. She was a previous A, Zoe." Anna said.

"Obviously not a good one! She was basically kicked out of her own game when Cece came along." Zoe said, earning a small smile from Anna.

"I heard she fell of the small mountain outside of Rosewood." Anna said, keeping her smile.

Zoe laughed. "I know, it's terrible."

Anna laughed to.

"I love you." Anna said with a huge smile on her face.

Zoe hugged Anna again. "I love you too."

When they broke apart Anna took a deep breath. "God, I don't know what I would do without. You always know exactly what to say."

"I only say the things that make the most sense."

Anna smiled. "Thanks for backing me up back there." She said, referring to when Zoe called Mona out.

"I noticed you were uncomfortable. And the thought of Mona getting away with it disgusted me."

A stray tear fell from Anna's eye. Only one.

Zoe reached out and wiped away the tear. "I don't know how you do it, but you look beautiful when you cry."

Anna laughed. "What, that's ridiculous."

"It's true! You have such an elegant way of crying. When I cry, snot is always somehow involved."

"You just haven't seen me cry that much." Anna said, picking the grass.

"That's true. I think the only times I've seen you cry since this thing started is now and when you had your back torn apart and you were in pain."

"I'm sure I looked nasty then." Anna said, throwing a piece of grass aside.

"You didn't." Zoe answered.

Anna looked up to the sky. "I hate feeling like this."

Zoe scrunched up her face. "Like what?"

"Weak." Anna answered.

"You're anything but weak." Zoe said.

"Well, I feel weak." Anna said, looking back at Zoe.

"Well, when you feel weak, think of yourself as something powerful." Zoe said.

"Like what?"

Zoe thought for a second. "An arrow."

"An arrow?" Anna questioned.

"Yes, an Arrow. It's both harmless and extremely powerful. Without the help of the bow, it can't be set into motion and it's useless. But, if you use the bow, you can do some serious damage. Plus, if you don't bend your arm, the strings will hit you and leave a nasty bruise. So you, Anna, are the arrow. And Kara, Rose and I are the bow. When you feel weak and useless, turn to your friends, and we'll make you feel stronger and let you soar. And if anyone gets in your way, we'll give them a bruise or two."

Anna stared at Zoe, her emotion unknown.

"But an arrow can break." Anna said quietly.

"Only if you come on too strong and don't have a good enough support system, so let's not let it break."

Anna smiled and looked into Zoe's eyes. "Deal." She said, holding out her hand.

Zoe grabbed it and gladly shook it. "Deal."

Zoe then stood up and offered her hand to Anna. "Come on, there probably wondering what we're doing." She said, nodding her head towards the house.

Anna grabbed Zoe's hand and allowed Zoe to lift her up off the ground.

The two held hands all the way until they reached the front door.

* * *

 **AN: Did you like it?**

 **Don't worry, this isn't the last of the parents, this was only a mere introduction.**

 **I also wanted to have a nice sweet moment with Anna because I feel like she hasn't really been that important to the story. :/ Sorry.**

 **Also, It's really hard to write for Mona! I tried to get her attitude down but it may have sounded a little snobby. Just know that I love Mona and I wasn't trying to make her sound rude at all! :)**

 **But anyway, all of the four main girls will have a chapter only in their perspective like Zoe did at one point. It'll happen when the character has a serious problem going on.**

 **Who is your favorite character and why? I'm curious so leave a review!**

 **Please follow, favorite and review!**

 **Thanks, I love you all!**

 **-Jessica.**


	23. Gone

**AN: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

 **Someone asked if Zoe's name is pronounced as Zo or Zoey.**

 **I say Zo, but you can say it however you like! :)**

 **Blaze574 followed and favorited. Thank you :)**

 **I don't know** **what else to say. Lol.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Have you talked to Owen yet?" Anna asked.

All four girls were sitting together at the lunch table.

"No." Kara said. "But I promised my mom I would go to work today so I most likely am going to have to."

Kara really didn't want to. She still felt anger towards Owen, but for the good of the group, Kara _needed_ to fully forgive him.

She felt like today would at least be a start.

"What do you think he wants to talk about?" Rose asked.

"He'll probably ask me to forgive him." Kara answered, taking a bite of her salad.

"Are you?" Rose asked.

Kara put her fork down.

"I'm going to have to."

"You don't _have_ to do anything." Zoe said to Kara.

"You guys said that it would be helpful for him to be on our side. You all probably really want me to forgive him so he can help solve this stupid mystery."

"Kara, your well-being comes before anyone this A nonsense. Sure, it would be nice to have an extra brain trying to help figure this out, but I'm sure we'll be fine without him." Anna said.

Kara shook her head. "No, no I'll fix it. We need him."

Kara almost said 'I need him.' She really did miss him. She missed having someone around who would make her laugh, and someone she can trust. Even though he already broke the whole trust thing with Kara. She still missed him.

The girls remained silent.

"Crap." Anna said, putting her head down.

Kara looked around confused. Then she saw him. Dylan.

"Anna, what are you doing?" Kara asked, with her mouth full of her lettuce.

"Hiding." Anna said.

Rose grabbed Anna's head and forced it back up. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't hide from him. He hasn't done anything wrong." Rose said.

Anna still refused to look at Dylan. "I know. I just can't look at him the same after what Mona said."

"That hag?" Kara said.

Rose then slapped Kara's fork from her hand and gave Kara a deep stare. Zoe gave Kara her fork when Kara's old spoon hit the ground.

"Oh, god, sorry, Rose." Kara quickly apologized. She forgot that Mona was Rose's aunt.

Slowly turning her head away from Kara, Rose said. "Don't worry about what my aunt said. She was just trying to sound smart when she barley knows anything."

"I just can't get the idea out of my head." Anna said, as she looked at the ground.

"If it's really bothering you, you can just ask him." Kara said.

"Ask Dylan if he's A? No, Kara, I can't just do that." Anna said sharply.

"Okay, I'm just trying to get you through this." Kara said defensively.

"I know, I'm sorry." Anna said, sending a sad look over to Kara.

"Don't give me that look. Nothing you can say or do will make me angry." Kara said in response to Anna's face.

The frown turned into a smile. "I know." Anna said.

"Speaking of Dylan, when are we going to talk to Chelsey?" Zoe asked.

"Next time we see her." Kara answered.

"Well, we're not together all the time. What if only one of us in near her?" Rose asked.

"Then that person needs to step up and confront Chelsey themselves." Kara answered.

"Look, you guys don't need to talk to Chelsey. This is my problem." Anna said.

"We don't want you to get your throat slit." Zoe said, referring to the text A had sent Anna at one point.

"A won't slit my throat." Anna said, almost laughing.

"And how do you know that?" Kara asked.

"A has said some pretty big talk, but A wouldn't do anything to kill us." Anna said, she then took a bite out of her apple.

"Why wouldn't A kill us?" Rose asked.

"If we were all gone, who would he have left to play with?" Anna answered.

Kara's mouth hung open as her fork in her hand never met her mouth. It was disturbing what Anna had said, but it was also true.

Kara moved her eyes up as she saw movement. Dylan was waiting around anxiously. He was probably waiting for Anna to be alone.

When he and Kara made eye contact, he mouthed the words, "Can I talk to Anna?"

"Dylan wants you, Anna." Kara finally said once her body started to move again.

Everybody turned around and looked at Dylan.

"Do I mention the A thing?" Anna asked.

"Only if he mentions the A thing first." Rose answered.

Anna nodded and moved over to Dylan's lunch table.

Kara watched Anna's facial expression. It changed from nervous to happy in a matter of seconds.

Kara turned back to the group.

"She seems happy." Rose said. She was looking at Anna and Dylan to. She seemed hurt.

Kara understood. Her heart was broken to, and seeing two people happy kind of hurt.

Kara turned her attention over to Zoe. "Speaking of happy, how are you and Cory?"

Zoe's eyes grew wide. "What about us?"

"You know what I mean. Rose and I heard you and Anna talking about how you to kissed and stuff."

Zoe's face grew red.

"We also heard how you forget to eat sometimes, so take a bite." Rose said, nodding her head at Zoe's uneaten Twinkie.

Zoe took a bite and when she swallowed, she said, "Well, I don't know what Cory and I are. I haven't seen him in a few days and we've never really had the time to talk about it."

"Well, find out. You could use a man." Kara said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Zoe said in a sarcastic voice.

"I mean, we're not around you all the time so it would be nice to have Cory around so you're not always alone." Kara said.

"I would like to be alone sometimes." Zoe said.

"Well… we would prefer you not to be." Kara said quietly.

"Kara, stop. You don't need to worry about that stuff anymore. The one time I almost died was an accident." Zoe said. She then rolled up her sleeves and showed Kara and Rose her wrists.

"See. No new cuts. Only old faded scars." Zoe said.

Kara inspected Zoe's arm. She was right, no new wounds.

"So that therapist is really working." Rose said.

"Yeah, but it isn't just her. There's you two, Anna, my parents, Cory." Zoe said.

"Maybe we all should see her." Kara said, taking a sip of water.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Zoe went from being a depressed little soul to be perfectly happy, with the situation, and she has stopped her cutting after a month of sessions. That's pretty impressive. And come on, we could all have a little bit of emotional support." Kara said, answering Rose's question.

"I'm not depressed." Rose said in defense.

"Rose, you didn't even put on makeup this morning. You only do that when you're sick." Zoe pointed out.

"Maybe I was just tired this morning." Rose said, continuing to deny it.

"Okay, little miss excuses." Kara said, picking around her salad with her fork.

"What are you getting at, Kara?" Rose said with annoyance in her voice.

"I'm saying that this Zak thing is hitting you a lot harder than you think and you don't need to deny it. Okay, you've had heartbreak. You're not the only one." Kara said, getting a little angry at the end of her sentence.

Rose stayed silent. "Okay, whatever. Maybe I'm a little depressed."

"Thank you." Kara said to nobody in particular.

The bell then rang, signaling that lunch was now over.

Kara stood up and grabbed her trash. "I'll see you guys later."

They both said their goodbyes and Kara left and made her way to Chemistry.

* * *

Kara held her apron in her hands. She ran her finger over her name stitched into the fabric. It felt like forever since she wore it.

She stood up and watched herself in the mirror as she tied the apron around her waist.

Kara walked down the stairs and saw her mom in the kitchen.

"Going to work?" Hanna asked.

"Yup." Kara answered simply.

"Are you going to talk to Owen?"

"I'm going to have to." Kara answered. She was bond to run into him.

"Well, good luck." Hanna said, heading off into another room.

"Wait, mom!" Kara called out.

Mrs. River immediately walked back to the kitchen.

"Yes?" She said when she got there.

"Did dad ever get the stuff of the flash drive?" Kara asked.

"He's gotten a few things." Hanna answered.

"Like what?" Kara asked.

"Just a couple of blank screens. He probably won't present the footage until he gets all of it."

"Yeah, that sounds like him." Kara answered.

A silence now broke out between the two.

"If you want, I can ask him again; see if he has more stuff." Hanna asked, sensing what Kara was wanting.

Despite her lust, Kara said, "No, leave him alone. He'll come to us when something important pops up."

Hanna nodded. "Okay. Now get to work."

Kara turned around and headed for the door. "Wish me luck." Kara said.

"Good luck." Kara heard her mother call.

It took Kara a few minutes to arrive at the brew. When she got there, she went right to work. Maybe Owen wouldn't notice her.

It was almost a full hour of serving and refilling drinks before Owen noticed Kara was there.

She was wiping down a table when Owen tapped on her shoulder.

"Kara, why are you here?" He asked, straight forward.

"I work here." Kara answered, moving on to the next table.

Owen followed. "Well, I know. But I didn't think you would ever be coming back."

"And why wouldn't I come back?" Kara asked, scrubbing the table hard.

"Because of me." Owen said kind of sad.

"Well, I almost didn't come because of you." Kara said. She continued to scrub at a stain that wouldn't come out.

"Well, why did you come then?"

Kara stopped scrubbing in defeat and turned to look at Owen. "I came because of you."

"But I thought that you didn't want to come because of me." Owen said, a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, well can you see how bipolar I am?" Kara asked.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Kara added.

"Well, I wanted to talk about us." Owen said.

Kara turned around and started to scrub the stain again. "Owen, I said this before; I don't want to get back together."

"That's not exactly what I'm talking about." Owen said.

Embarrassed, Kara said, "Then what is it?"

"The fact that every time I try to talk to you it's involved with getting back together."

Kara turned back around angrily. "Well sorry that that's the first thing on my mind."

"That's what you think about?" Owen asked in a low voice.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Kara asked, avoiding the question.

"I just want to hear you say the words." Owen said, looking into Kara's eyes.

"What words?" Kara asked, avoiding staring back.

"That you forgive me." Owen said, lifting up his eyebrows.

Kara took a step back. "You want me to say that I forgive you?"

Owen nodded his head.

"Owen, I told you that I needed time." Kara said, looking around to see if anybody needed any drinks. Nobody did. Dang it. Kara needed a way out.

"I have given you time, and it kills me that every time I see you, I wonder if it is okay for me to come talk to you. And when I do talk to you, I'm scared that I'm going to say something wrong and you will hate me even more."

"Like I said before, I don't hate you." Kara said in a gentle tone.

"Every time I look at you, you turn away. And I know you're looking for a way out." Owen said sounding hurt.

Kara threw her dishrag down on an empty table put her head in her hands. "That's because I'm scared that if I look at you that I'll change my mind."

"Well, what are you thinking?" Owen asked.

Kara knew that she _had_ to forgive Owen. Like the girls said, he was important. And Kara has kept this grudge for way to long, she was doing exactly what Owen had done to her.

She realized that now: She dropped the bomb of A and when he took time to process it, Kara took that time feeling bad about herself. Yeah, what he did wasn't good but it wasn't like he was killing anybody either. Now Owen is back and he isn't asking for much. He understands that what he did is wrong and gave her time, like she asked, and now he is offering to be a friend and Kara is being a bitch about.

Kara was the problem.

She took a shaky breath in as the wave of truth drowned her. Her eyes began to fill up, but they didn't pour yet.

"I'm sorry." She said in a weird croaky/shaky voice.

"What, I…" He put his arms out as if to give Kara a supportive grip of the shoulder or something but he quickly brought his hand down.

Kara felt her tears slowly start to come out, so she grabbed Owen's hand and dragged him into the back room.

When they were alone with no people, Kara leaned into Owen's body. When they touched, Owen wrapped his arms around Kara. It was obvious that he was confused. His grip wasn't as tight as it used to be. "Kara, I don't-"

"I'm sorry." She said into his chest.

He looked down at Kara. "For what?"

"I did exactly what I accused you of." Kara said, pulling away and wiping her face.

Owen's face turned sad. "You didn't do nearly as bad as me." He said, gripping Kara's shoulders.

"I left you in the dark."

"Yeah, but you still talked to me."

"It doesn't matter okay. I dropped a bomb on you and then I refused to tell you anything about it."

"You were upset and I hold no grudge against you." Owen said into Kara's eyes.

This time she looked back. "You're too nice to me." She said after sniffling.

Owen laughed and pulled Kara in for a hug.

Kara smiled at the warmth of Owen's body. "I forgive you." She said calmly.

Owen grip tightened on Kara. "Yes! Thank you." He said excitedly.

Kara laughed at his excitement.

"I told you I could make you happy again." He said.

Kara remembered when he said that. She laughed again.

The two went back to work shortly after that.

There was finally no tension between Kara and Owen and she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Being at home was boring Rose.

The empty halls and lonely silence was forcing Rose to think. The top thing to come to mind was Zak.

No matter what Rose did, the thought of him popped into her head. Like, how could he betray her? Also, what was he doing now?

That was running through Rose's mind the most. Where did Zak go?

It's been days and she hasn't seen or heard from him at all since she found out.

Did he go back to A? Or did he leave for good?

Rose didn't know what she wanted to believe. She never wanted to see his face again, but she didn't not want to ever see his face again.

This is what was making Rose go slightly insane.

The silence of the empty house was torturing Rose, so she scribbled out a quick note for when her parents get home:

 _Went for a walk. Not sure when I'll be home but I'm not going far._

 _-Rose_

She put the note on the counter where she knew her parents would see it.

The only thing Rose grabbed was her phone, she considered not even grabbing that, but anything could happen and she wanted to make sure that she would find out right away if something happened to Zoe, Anna or Kara.

She put her phone in her pocket and walked out the door, locking it behind her.

She followed the road and walked. Rose walked and walked.

She wondered if she should go to the brew and get something to drink. It was hot out so she decided to go in.

She saw Owen right away, but not Kara. Rose walked up to Owen and caught him by surprise.

"Where's Kara?" Rose said without warning.

Owen jumped a little and turned to Rose. "You need to stop scaring me like that."

Rose lifted up her eyebrows, Owen hadn't answered the question.

"Kara isn't here. She went home an hour ago." Owen finally said.

"Did you talk to her?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I did." He answered.

"And what did she say?" Rose said, getting agitated.

"She started going off on how it's her fault that it was always awkward between us."

"Her fault?" Rose asked, confused.

"Yeah. She said that she was doing the same thing to me that I did to her and she felt bad. She started crying and apologizing."

"Did you forgive her?" Rose asked, trying to keep her cool.

"Of course. I'm miserable without her. I would do anything to make her not be mad at me."

"Well, are you to, like… a thing now?" Rose asked awkwardly.

"No, I don't think she's ready for that yet. But maybe soon." Owen said.

Rose turned to look if anybody was watching them. When nobody was, Rose put her finger on Owen's chest and pushed him against the wall.

She leaned in closely and said in a sharp whisper, "You better not every hurt her again. Kara will eventually forgive you completely because that's the kind of person she is. I don't believe it was her fault at all that you two barley talked, it was your fault for not helping her when she needed it, and when you decided it was time to talk again, she had every right to ignore you. I would rather her not get back together with you, but if you do, you better _not_ mess it up. Heartbreak is the worst thing you can go through and she's already been through it and if she has to go through it again, I don't think she'll survive it." Rose stopped with a shaky breath. She took a step back as she realized that last part was about her.

Her eyes started to fill up with tears, but she wouldn't cry in front of Owen.

He must have caught on that something happened to Rose, "Rose, I'm sorry." He said, extending his arm to comfort Rose, but she took another step back.

"Just don't hurt her." Rose said. She turned around quickly and ran out of the store as the first tear escaped.

She ran and ran. People gave her weird looks but she didn't care. Earlier, she wanted to be near people, but now, she wanted to be alone.

Rose was starting to lose her breath. It seemed like somebody was around every corner.

Every street was full.

Rose looked straight ahead and saw the woods. Nobody would be in there.

She ran into the woods and didn't stop. The woods were big, but Rose didn't care if she got lost.

She ran and ran until she collapsed. Rose didn't realize how out of breath she was.

As she regained her breath, tears rushed down her face.

Everywhere she looked, all she could see was Zak.

All directions: North, East, South and West, he was there.

Rose put her hands over her eyes and wiped at her tears.

They didn't stop and now, she was getting frustrated.

Rose stood up. In the distance, she saw a hooded figure.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed.

Rose didn't know if A was actually there, or if it was her imagination. They took a step forwards but Rose help her hand out. "Stop." She yelled.

The figure stopped mid-step.

"Just go away!" Rose screamed, but her voice cracked pathetically.

The figure wouldn't go away.

Figuring it was just her imagination; Rose pinched her eyes closed and took a deep breath. "Go away!" she yelled one last time.

When she opened her eyes, A was gone.

Rose turned to the tree next to her. She screamed and punched it.

Rose was weak, so the impact hurt, and the sharp bark from the tree cut up Rose's knuckle. She was bleeding, but she didn't care. She kept walking.

It was dark now. Rose had no idea what time it was, but she didn't want to look at her phone. She had felt it buzz numerous times. It was probably her parents wondering where she was, but Rose wasn't ready to come home just yet.

There was a large hill. Rose made her way up the hill, grabbing onto tress to help her make it up the steep side.

When she made it up, she was overtaken with beauty. There was a small cliff overlooking the city of Rosewood. All the lights were on, and Rose could see every bit of Rosewood.

This was the perfect spot for Rose. It quite, but you could still here the sounds of Rosewood. There weren't many, but the cars were loud. The little noise in the distance was perfect.

Rose walked to the edge of the cliff. It was a long way down. Rose wondered if this was the hill that Mona had fallen down that one time.

If it is, that means that Rose's mother had to have been standing in this exact spot at one point.

Rose sat down while her legs hung over the side. She put her hands down to support her, but Rose shot her hand back up when a sharp pain shot through it.

Rose's hand was nasty. It was dark, but the moon shone enough light onto the hill that Rose could see it.

There was blood, dried and fresh, on her knuckle. A few pieces of grass and dirt were sticking to the blood as well.

The cuts were deep. And there were a lot of them. There were also bruises. On the inside and out.

Rose didn't even know if that was possible. Can you bruise a bone? If it was possible, Rose was sure she did it.

All in all, it looked like Rose had put her hand through a paper shredder. How hard did she hit that tree?

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of the forest was calming and the small noise was perfect.

Rose laid back, her legs still hanging off the side of the hill. She stared up at the sky. Stars were out, not a lot but there was enough.

Everything was so calm. Rose never wanted to leave.

She drifted into that, kind of asleep, but not really stage. But she shot her eyes open when her phone buzzed again in her back pocket.

Rose realized that everybody was probably going crazy wondering where she was. Her parents hadn't seen her since that morning when she left for school, and Kara, Zoe and Anna hadn't seen her since lunch at school.

Her eyes widened at two things.

The first was that it was one in the morning. She was gone for that long?

The second thing was from the thousands of messages she had.

 **Where are you?**

 **-Mom**

 **Hey, I want to talk to you.**

 **-Kara**

 **Rose, where are you?**

 **-Dad**

 **Rose, respond.**

 **-Kara**

 **Kara said you won't answer her. What's wrong?**

 **-Anna**

 **Rose, where are you? Why aren't you answering anyone?**

 **-Zoe**

 **It's getting dark out, please come home.**

 **-Mom**

 **Rose, we went to your house and your parents haven't even heard from you. We're worried. What happened?**

 **-Anna**

 **Does A have you?**

 **-Kara**

A majority of the messages were like that. The latest message was from her mom.

 **If you're not back by morning, we're calling the police.**

 **-Mom**

Rose put her phone down and rubbed her face. She didn't want to go home.

She picked it up again and texted Anna. She knew that the three of them were most likely together.

 **I'm fine, don't worry. Don't look for me please. I'll be back soon, please trust me. And don't let my mom call the police.**

 **-Rose**

It wasn't even ten seconds before her phone blew up again from all three of them.

 **ROSE WHERE ARE YOU?!**

 **-Anna**

 **Rose, please come back were worried.**

 **-Zoe**

 **I'll call the police myself if I have to, you need to come back!**

 **-Kara**

Rose didn't respond to these.

She lay back again and the phone continued to blow up.

It went silent for a while, but one single buzz went off.

Rose didn't know why, but this one felt different. She looked at it.

 _ **Hide and seek? I love this game.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose turned her phone off and looked at the sky. Let A come for her. Like Anna said before, he wouldn't do anything to his pretty little bitches.

She fell asleep counting the stars.

* * *

 **AN: …**

 **Yeah, well. Rose is going through some stuff apparently.**

 **I don't have much to say other than another one perspective chapter is going to come up soon.**

 **Okay, thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	24. Accident

**AN: Hehehe**

 **I like where this is going.**

 **Thanks H2o Fan Stories for following and favoriting and thanks tsubasaiscool for following!**

 **Alright, let's get on with the chapter.**

* * *

Three days.

It's been three days since Rose went missing.

Zoe, Anna and Kara have looked everywhere for her but she is know where to be found.

The three girls were all at Zoe's house, discussing where Rose could be.

"How is it that neither us three, our parents and the police can't find Rose." Kara said, rubbing her face in frustration.

"Rose is a sneaky girl; she doesn't want to be found." Anna said in a sad tone.

"Yeah well, I don't give a damn what she thinks! Nobody has seen her. If nobody has seen her, that means she hasn't come back for food or water or anything! So that means she must be starving and that means she's dyeing and we can't let that happen, Anna!" Kara yelled.

Zoe then took control. She couldn't let Kara think something so ridiculous. Nobody needed to add all these dark thoughts when the situation was already grim.

"Kara, stop." Zoe began. "Rose is in a bad place, we all are, but she isn't that broken. She wouldn't starve herself; she's too selfless to do that. She must be getting food and water somewhere."

"I just wish we could know for sure that she was okay." Kara said quietly.

"I'm sure she would let us know if she could." Anna said.

"What if she can't contact us because she's in trouble?" Kara said, her eyes grew wide.

"What are getting at?" Zoe asked.

"I've been wondering for a while something that I'm praying isn't true." Kara said, looking at Zoe in the eye.

The eye contact was making Zoe uncomfortable.

"Spit it out, Kara!" Anna said, obviously annoyed.

"What if A has Rose?" Kara finally said.

Zoe stood up and shook her head. "No. No A wouldn't do that."

"Why not? A is a psychopath. What if he was sick of playing nice and took Rose to send us a message?" Kara said, standing up also.

"Rose is not an inanimate object that needs to be taken to prove a point. She's a person who has a brain and knows how to keep herself safe. She might not be around but A does not have her." Anna said.

It was silent for a while.

Zoe was wishing somebody would walk through the front door, that somebody would have some good news for the girls. Having this conversation was killing Zoe. The thought of Rose being somewhere alone, possibly starving, was hard for her to bear.

"You can't help but wonder." Kara said, breaking the silence.

"Well, let's not wonder." Zoe said sharply. "A doesn't have her."

Just then, the door opened and Zoe's heart skipped a beat. It was so quite that you could hear a pin drop.

Cory walked through the door. He saw everyone looking at him and a look of confusion grew over his face.

Everyone released their breath. Zoe walked up to Cory and hugged him. He hugged back.

When they released, Anna and Kara looked confused. Zoe then remembered how they had never met him before.

"Oh, sorry. Guys, this is Cory, Cory this is Anna and Kara."

They both said hi, unenthusiastically.

Cory, being the nice guy he is, ignored the dullness to their voices and said, "Hi, nice to meet you." With a smile.

Zoe turned to him. "Did you find her?"

"Wait, he's looking for Rose too?" Kara asked.

Zoe turned to them. "Yeah. I figured we should get all the help we can."

"But he doesn't even know what Rose looks like." Anna pointed out.

"There's this thing called pictures, Anna." Zoe said, getting slightly annoyed. They should be happy that somebody else is trying to help.

Anna rolled her eyes and grabbed Kara. "Come on. Let's leave them alone." Anna said, taking Kara to another room.

When they were gone, Cory said, "Nice friends."

This time, Zoe rolled her eyes. "They are nice; they're just upset because Rose is missing." Zoe stopped for a second. "Speaking of Rose, did you see her?"

Cory looked down and shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Zoe released a big breath. She put a hand to her forehead and she stated to pace around.

"Why can't anybody find her?" She said to the air.

"She doesn't want to be found." Cory said.

Zoe stopped pacing and looked at Cory. "I know that. But where do you go when you don't want to be found?"

"There are a lot of places. She is probably somewhere were there aren't a lot of people."

Zoe stood up straight. "Cory, you ran away once."

"I did." He said, looking a bit confused.

"This is great." Zoe said a smile on her face as she thought up a brilliant plan.

"I don't understand what-" Cory began.

"You need to run away again." Zoe said, interrupting Cory.

"What?" He said, clearly confused.

"You're an expert at running away. You did it for years! You know where to hide and you know how to stay hidden." Zoe said with a smile on her face.

"Where are you going with this?" Cory said. He was confused, but had a smile on his face.

"I'm saying that you need to run away again. If you were going to run away, where would you go? Put yourself in Rose's shoes." Zoe said, explaining as best as she could.

"I'm not Rose though. I don't know where she would go." Cory said.

"She's smart like you. She knows where to go. So, I don't know. Search Rosewood. Find all the hiding spots and look. She has to be there." Zoe said.

Cory shook his head. "I don't know."

Zoe threw her head back. "You can't try?"

Cory walked up to Zoe and looked her in the eye. "I'll do anything for you."

Zoe smiled. "I know." She then leaned in and hugged him.

Zoe squeezed hard. "Please find her." She said into his chest.

"I'll try." He said back.

When the two broke apart, Zoe didn't know what to do. Should she kiss him? Should she just smile? It still wasn't clear to her if the two were dating.

"I'll leave now. See if I can find her while there's still daylight." He said.

"If you need help or anything, I'm here." Zoe reminded him.

Cory nodded his head. "I know."

She smiled, then he smiled and the kiss that followed came naturally.

When it ended, Zoe smiled from ear to ear.

No words were spoken as he turned around and headed for the door.

"Wait, Cory!" Zoe yelled after him as he opened the door.

He turned around and waited for Zoe to catch up to him. When she did catch up, Zoe had no idea how to ask what she was thinking.

Unable to figure out how to word it right, Zoe asked flat out, "Are we dating?" Her face flushed red right after she said it.

He laughed as his face turned red to. "Do you want to be?"

Without even hesitating, Zoe said, "Yes."

"Then, Zoe DiLafields, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked.

Zoe laughed at how weird and cheesy that sounded. She smiled and said, "Yes."

He laughed too and hugged Zoe and she hugged back.

After a while, Cory said, "I'm going to go for real now."

Zoe pulled away and said, "Remember to call me if you need our help."

"I will."

He then kissed Zoe's forehead and left out the door.

"God that was corny."

Zoe turned around to see Anna and Kara in the room now.

Despite the harsh remark, Zoe was still smiling. "Jealous?"

"Actually, no. Owen and I made up and I think were back on track and we might get back together soon. But I have to put that on hold until we find Rose." Kara said.

"Good for you, Kara. If you're on speaking terms with him, you should ask him about Rose. Maybe he's seen her." Anna suggested.

"I _just_ forgave him. I don't want to drown him in questions." Kara said.

"Kara, your life is full of questions. If he is going to be with you, he's going to have to get used to it." Zoe said.

"Yeah, you're right." Kara said.

"Do you know where he is?" Anna asked.

"Probably at his house."

"Then let's go." Anna said, heading for the door.

"Wait, hold on." Kara said, grabbing Anna's arm and yanking it back. "I should at least text him that we're coming."

"Text him in the car." Anna said, walking back to the door.

"Why are you in such a rush to get to see Owen?" Kara asked, not moving.

"I'm not in a rush to see Owen; I'm in a rush to find Rose." Anna said, not turning around. She opened the door and walked out.

Zoe turned to Kara, who had an expressionless face. "C'mon."

The two then followed Anna to the car.

When the three girls were settled in Anna's car, Anna asked, "How do I get there?"

Kara put Owen's address in her phone's GPS and handed the phone to Anna.

The first ten minutes of the ride was silent. The only noise came from the robotic voice giving Anna directions from Kara's phone.

"Are you sure this is the right address?"

"Yes, I'm positive." Kara said from the backseat.

"Are you sure? We've been driving for a while and were almost out of Rosewood." Anna said.

"I gave you the address Owen gave me." Kara said.

"Just follow the directions, Anna. We'll get there eventually." Zoe said from the passenger seat.

Anna said nothing and kept driving.

 _Turn left_ said Kara's phone.

Anna didn't turn left.

"Anna, you heard my phone, turn left." Kara said.

"I'm not turning left." Anna said, looking straight ahead.

 _Turn left._

"Anna, turn left!" Kara yelled.

"No."

 _Turn left._

"What is wrong with you?!" Kara said to Anna.

Zoe turned around. "Kara, calm down."

 _Turn left._

"No, I want to find Rose and Anna won't turn damn left." Kara said annoyed.

"Kara, look out your window! I can't turn left. If I do I'll be in the woods!" Anna yelled.

"Then I guess Owen lives in the woods!" Kara yelled.

"No, your address must be wrong." Zoe said.

"My address is right." Kara said, sitting back and crossing her arms.

 _Turn left._

"I'm not turning left!" Anna yelled to the phone.

"Just find another road and turn around." Zoe said.

 _Turn left._

"Shut up!" Anna said, picking up the phone and throwing it at Kara.

"Ow, Anna, That hurt! It'll shut up if you just turn left!" Kara yelled.

Anna turned around. "You shut up to!" She yelled at Kara.

"No, you shut up and learn how to drive!" Kara yelled back.

Zoe grabbed Anna and tried to make her turn around. Anna was in the driver's seat and she needed to drive.

"Zoe, stay out of it!" Anna yelled. She then shoved Zoe back.

 _Turn left, Bitch._

"What did it just say?" Zoe yelled.

"I don't care! I'm not turning left!"

"No, Anna I think A rigged the GPS." Zoe said. She turned back around and her eyes widened. Someone was standing in the road.

"ANNA!" Zoe screamed.

"WHAT?" She finally turned around. She screamed to.

Zoe reached over and grabbed the wheel and yanked it over to her.

The car then jerked to the left. As they swerved, Zoe got a closer look at the figure in the road.

It was a girl, covered in dirt and grime.

Zoe's ears rung as the car sped towards a tree. Time slowed down.

Anna and Kara were screaming, Zoe's hands were still on the wheel and the car was speeding towards the woods.

Time sped back up and Anna stepped on the brake but it barely made a difference.

It was a matter of seconds until they hit the tree.

* * *

"Anna, get up!" Kara said.

Anna's eyes shot open as she stared up at Kara. A giant gash was exposed on Kara's forehead with blood pouring out.

"Oh my god, Kara." Anna said, trying to sit up, but when she did, black spots formed around her vision.

"Forget about me, Anna! Help me get Zoe." Kara said, looking over at Zoe's body.

She was still down, but something looked wrong.

"Okay, help me up." Anna said, extending her arm for Kara to grab.

Kara nodded her head and pulled Anna up off the ground. She wobbled at first but Anna quickly regained her balance.

When Anna was up, Kara was down. Anna bent down and tried to help Kara up.

"No, leave me. Go help Zoe." Kara said frantically.

Anna nodded and made her way over to Zoe. On her way over, Anna noticed that they were deep in the woods. How did they get so far in?

She did a 360 degree turn and saw her car a good thirty feet away. It was smashed against a tree, barley recognizable.

They couldn't have flown this far. If they did, they would all be dead.

Anna's brain was thumping against her skull. She put her hand on her head and felt a warm sticky substance. She pulled it back and there was blood.

She frantically felt her head and searched for the source of the blood, but she couldn't find the wound. Not thinking too hard about it, if she did, Anna was scared her head would explode, she continued to walk over to Zoe.

It was now dark out, but somehow, Anna's car headlights were still on so Anna could see in front of her.

She made the long walk over to Zoe's unconscious body. She prayed Zoe was unconscious. When she got there, Anna let out the loudest gasp she has ever made in her life.

Anna closed her eyes and looked away from Zoe. She was scared that if she looked any longer, she would throw up. But she needed to stay strong. She thought about what Zoe had said to Anna not that long ago. Anna the arrow. She needed to stay strong, even though Anna felt her arrow cracking.

"What's wrong?" Anna heard Kara call in a worried tone.

Anna didn't respond at first.

"Anna!" Kara yelled.

"Her leg." Anna yelled back.

"What about it?"

"Its…its pointing in the wrong direction." Anna said, eyes still closed.

It didn't take an expert to figure out that it was broken.

"What do you mean its pointing in the wrong direction?"

"I mean that her right leg is pointing in the wrong direction!" Anna yelled.

Kara mumbled something that Anna couldn't make out. She ignored it.

She turned back to Zoe. She had to do something.

Trying to avoid her leg, Anna knelt down next to Zoe's body. She put her fingers on Zoe's neck and checked for a pulse.

She felt one, but it was faint.

"We need to get her to a hospital." Anna yelled back to Kara.

Kara didn't respond. Anna only heard a loud thump.

She whipped her head around and saw Kara on the ground. Anna stood up and ran to Kara.

"Are you okay?" She said when she got there.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to Zoe." Kara said, failing to hide the pain on her face.

"Only if you go over there with me." Anna said. She wanted to test what she was thinking.

"Okay, sure." She said with little confidence.

Anna extended her hand for Kara to grab and she took it. Anna pulled Kara up and almost as fast as Kara got up, she fell back down.

Anna lunged forwards and caught Kara before she smacked the ground. She slowly lowered Kara's body to the ground. "Can you stand?" Anna asked as she did this.

"I can for maybe two seconds." Kara answered.

"Which leg hurts?" Anna asked.

"My right leg."

Anna knelt down next to Kara and rolled up her pant leg. Kara grunted as the fabric brushed against her wound.

"Don't look." Anna said when she saw Kara's ankle.

Kara didn't question it; she just turned her head and closed her eyes.

Her ankle was huge. It was bigger that Anna's fist.

"This might hurt." Anna said.

"Why, what are-" Kara's sentence was cut off by her screams. Anna had squeezed Kara's ankle. She needed to feel for a broken bone. After a few minutes of searching (and a few minutes of Kara screaming) Anna figured it out.

She gently rolled Kara's pant leg back down. "You must have sprained it."

Anna looked back up at Kara. Her eyes were still glued shut, but tears had escaped.

"Kara, don't worry its nothing that can't be fixed." Anna said, trying to comfort Kara.

"It hurts." She said through gritted teeth.

"I know, but you have to live with it a little longer. I'm going to go check on Zoe one more time and then I'm going to call someone for help." Anna said in a calm voice, even though her heart felt like a ticking time bomb and her head felt like a rock concert was happening inside.

"Okay…okay, just hurry up." Kara said, finally opening her eyes.

Anna nodded and ran back to Zoe. She was still unconscious. Anna checked for the pulse again. It was the same as before. There, but weak.

"Hang in there, Zoe." Anna mumbled as she reached in her back pocket for her phone. It wasn't there.

Anna panicked. She stood up and looked around frantically. She needed her phone. She needed to get help _now._

Five minutes went by and still no phone.

Five more minutes. No phone.

Another five minutes. Still no phone.

Anna collapsed to the ground and cried into her hands. She needed help but she also couldn't leave Kara and Zoe alone.

"Anna." Kara called.

Anna said nothing.

"Anna!"

"What?" Anna called back.

"Get up and find your phone or I'll chop off my damn ankle and find it myself." Kara said, a little angrily and a little sarcastically.

Anna wiped her eyes and looked at the sky. "C'mon, Anna. Get up." She whispered to herself.

Anna stood up and looked around for another five minutes and still couldn't fine the phone. By this time, Anna was closer to her car then she was to Kara and Zoe.

She grunted angrily and kicked at a pile of leaves. She took deep breaths in and out as she thought.

Then it came to her. It was a long shot but it was the only thing Anna could think of.

"Please work." Anna mumbled.

In a loud voice Anna called out, "Hey Siri!"

Anna heard the familiar sound of the two dings that signals that the robot on her iPhone heard her.

Anna smiled and called out. "Where are you?"

" _Right here."_ She heard the robotic voice say.

Anna laughed as she followed the sound of the voice. She eventually ended up next to her destroyed car. She saw a light flashing from inside of it. Anna pressed her face against the somehow still in once piece window.

Her phone was in the back seat. Anna pulled at the door handle but the car was locked.

"Seriously." She said, throwing her head back.

Anna took a deep breath in and out. She looked around for something to break the window.

She found a large rock pretty fast. She picked it up and aimed for the window.

"I'm sorry." She said before throwing the rock. This impact broke it immediately.

Anna reached her hand in and grabbed for her phone. When she couldn't reach it, she shot her hand back dumbly.

Anna let out a sharp gasp as a shard of glass cut at Anna's arm. She looked at the fresh blood seeping down her arm. The cut was about as big as a pencil.

"Idiot." She said to herself as she grabbed the rock again. This time she threw it in the driver's window and cracked that one. She carefully reached her non-bleeding arm in the window and unlocked the car. She went back to the back seat door and opened it and grabbed her phone. She then weakly opened her trunk and grabbed the emergency blanket she always kept back there. She brought the blanket over to the shattered window. She took a corner and used all her might to cut off a chunk of the blanket. It took a few tries but she eventually cut a long enough strip.

Anna took the blanket shred and wrapped it around her cut. It hurt but she needed to keep it from getting infected. She then turned to her phone.

The first person she called was Dylan. She should've called the police, but Anna was scared and wasn't thinking straight.

He picked up after two rings.

"Hey, Anna." He said cheerfully.

"Dylan you need to get Zoe, Kara and I right now." She said out of breath. The tears running down her face didn't help.

"Anna, are you okay?" His voice was serious now.

"No. I got in an accident and Zoe is unconscious and her leg is broken and Kara can barely stand and I cut my arm and it won't stop bleeding." Anna said, looking down at her cut. She felt like she was going to faint.

"Anna, where are you?" He said, his voice shaking.

"I don't know… In the woods somewhere." Anna said. Her body slumped against the car.

"I'm getting in the car right now. Were you driving on the main road?"

"Yeah." Anna said weakly.

"Okay. How will I find you?" Dylan asked. He sounded weak, like he was going to faint.

"You'll see my car. It's smashed up against a tree." Anna said. She started to slide down the side of her car.

"Okay. I'm going as fast as I can." He said. Anna could hear the car's engine in the background.

Anna stayed silent as she breathed in and out.

"Anna?" Dylan said frantically.

"I'm here." She said weakly.

"Keep talking to me."

"No I….I need to get back to Zoe and Kara." Anna said, struggling to say her sentence.

"No you don't. They're fine. When I get there I'll get them okay? I need you right now to tell me where to go."

"Okay, but I need to…" Anna stopped as she felt the vomit go up her throat.

She dropped the phone and let the bile escape her body.

"Anna! Anna, are you okay?" She heard Dylan scream.

When she was done puking, she picked the phone up again. "I'm okay."

"Where you just puking?" He asked dumbly.

"What did it sound like?" Anna said, resting her head back on the car.

"Just hang I there, I'm going as fast as I can.." He said, ignoring Anna rude remark.

"Hurry up. I think my cuts infected." Anna said.

She pulled the blanket back a little and looked at the cut. It wasn't long after that she puked again.

It was definitely infected.

Anna put the blanket back on the cut and put the phone back to her ear.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Dylan was saying over and over again.

"Hurry up please." Anna said with her eyes closed.

"I'm going ten miles per hour over the speed limit; I'm going as fast as I can."

Anna opened her eyes and dropped the phone. In the distance, she saw a dark figure. Actually, it was a person dressed in all black to be exact. It was A.

Anna then remembered how Kara's GPS said "Turn left, Bitch" right before they crashed.

Anna got heated with anger. It was A's fault that Anna, Kara and Zoe are almost dying.

"I'll be right back." Anna said to Dylan.

"Anna, where are you going?" Dylan said concerned.

"I'm going to kill A." Anna said in gritted teeth.

"Anna, no. Murder is a crime and you can barely talk."

"I don't care. It was them who almost killed us all." Anna said. She then put down the phone and stood up. It was difficult but she did it.

Anna had an advantage. She saw A, but A didn't see her.

Also, Anna found this new found strength. It's amazing how strong you get when you're in trouble.

She took a few steps forwards. Then she stated to jog, and then she started to sprint. She was running pretty easily. Not even her asthma was getting in the way.

When she started running, A saw her pretty fast.

Since A was perfectly healthy, they were a lot faster than Anna. But she didn't care. As long as A felt threatened, she was happy.

"I'm going to kill you!" She screamed as she chased after A.

A kept running, swerving in-between trees and jumping over logs and rocks. Somehow, Anna kept up.

You would think that A would lead Anna deeper into the woods, but they were doing the complete opposite. They were leading Anna towards the road. Almost directly to Anna's destroyed car.

When she ran past it, Anna heard someone call her name.

"Anna!"

It was Kara.

She stopped and watched as A jogged away.

"Anna, come on, Dylan's here." Kara called.

Anna stared angrily as A ran away. He ran towards the hill that overlooked Rosewood.

"I will get you." Anna said, even though she knew A couldn't hear her.

Anna quickly felt hands around her.

"Anna come on lets go. We need to get you three to the hospital." It was Dylan's voice.

As soon as he finished his sentence, Anna slumped into his arms. Her body was now catching up. She started gasping for breath, asthma attack, and her vision was growing blurry.

Dylan wrapped his arms around Anna and carried her bridal style to the car. She closed her eyes as he carried her.

It felt like forever until Anna and Dylan finally reached Dylan's car.

He opened the passenger door and set Anna down and buckled her in. Zoe and Kara were buckled into the back seat. Both were awake, but barley.

Dylan got in the driver's seat and shot off. He was speeding extremely. He held Anna's hand with one hand and drove with the other.

She closed her eyes and prayed that she and the others would make it to the hospital soon.

Dylan squeezed Anna's hand and she squeezed back.

He then released Anna's hand as she opened her eyes to see why.

Dylan picked up his phone and started to dial a number.

"Hi, I'm on my way to the hospital right now. Have three rooms ready. My girlfriend and her friends got in a really bad accident and all three are injured. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." He said quickly.

He was silent for few seconds while the person from the hospital on the other line asked a few more questions.

"Their names are Kara Rivers, Zoe DiLafields and Anna Cavanaugh." He said. After a few more seconds he said, "Yes, contact their families."

Anna closed her eyes.

"Thank you." He said.

He must've hung up the phone because Anna soon found Dylan's hand back in hers.

Anna felt herself drifting off to sleep. Dyaln must have noticed because he started to say. "Anna, don't fall asleep. Nobody can fall asleep, all of you stay awake!"

But Anna's body didn't listen. She felt her hand loosen on Dylan's as she fell asleep.

* * *

 **AN: I honestly wasn't expecting that. Like I said in my YouTube video, sometimes I write and I don't stop and I come up with a completely different idea.**

 **Anyways I really like this chapter; it's one of my favorites. The next chapter I feel will also be a favorite of mine.**

 **I also have another contest. I'm introducing a new character soon and I need a name. :)**

 **So, leave a review and tell me your favorite chapter and why. Leave a name you would like to see in the story and it may be a winner! (It has to be a boys name.)**

 **I'm not sure when the deadline will be. Probably the chapter when you meet the character so two weeks. But it may be sooner.**

 **Okay, thank you!**

 **-Jessica**


	25. Alone

**AN: Hey guys!**

 **Thanks JRagonlovesEMaya and Momentsofhappiness101 for following and favoriting and FirebuggATL followed! Thank you!**

 **I love the reviews I got on my last chapter! I'm glad to see that everyone enjoyed it.**

 **I hope you payed attention because that chapter and this one are** _ **very important!**_

 **Thank you!**

 _*Note: If you ever see something in this font it is writing or emphasis._

 _ **If it's like this, it's an –A text**_

 **If it's like this, it's an anon or a text from someone other than –A**

 **I just thought I would say it in case anyone gets confused.**

 **Enjoy chapter 23!**

* * *

Three days?

Rose wasn't sure how long she was gone but she was pretty sure it was three days.

The last time she contacted anyone was when she texted Anna that first night. Her phone has been dead since the second morning.

Rose liked it up on the cliff. A had no way to reach her.

The downside was that she couldn't shower, and she had nothing to eat or drink.

As if on cue, Rose's stomach growled.

She put her hand on her stomach to quite the noise. The last time she ate was at her house before she left to go talk to Owen, which resulted in her…leaving.

Rose hated the term "ran away" even though that's basically what she did. But her family had nothing to do with it. It was A. To be exact, it was Zak that forced Rose to leave.

In Rosewood, everywhere she looked she would think of Zak. Sometimes her brain took over and she even hallucinated him.

Up in this hill, it was quiet and peaceful and Rose could forget about him.

Rose's stomach growled again. She needed to eat something.

She stood up and got a last look at the hill. She would be back if she didn't get caught.

She turned around and made her way down the hill.

Rose didn't dare go by the road, she could easily be spotted if she did, so she stayed deep in the woods, but she could still see the road from where she was, but no cars driving by would see her.

Rose followed the road back to Rosewood.

When she got there, she had to figure out the best route to get to her house without getting caught.

Seeing that there was no way to go, (literally there was somebody around every corner) Rose decided that she would have to act as natural as possible and make her way through the streets.

But how does a girl covered in dirt and grime fit in.

Whatever, she could think of something if someone pulled her aside.

"Please work." Rose said to herself as she made her way towards the streets.

It started off pretty good. She got a few weird looks but nobody seemed to think it was too weird.

After almost five minutes of walking, Rose turned to walk down her street.

Right away she saw a kid riding his bike in Rose's direction.

She panicked. Should she cross the streets or stay put?

Figuring it was too late, the kid was almost to Rose, she just put her head down and crossed her arms, hoping to get unnoticed.

The little boy, probably eight, started to slow down.

Rose sped up, hoping that he would ignore her. She then passed him and she kept speed walking.

"Excuse me, Miss?" The boy called.

Rose stopped walking. She hesitantly turned around. "Yes?"

He had a look of concern on his face. He got off his bike and slowly walked up to Rose. She tried her best to hide her fear.

When he reached her he studied her up and down. When he reached her face he asked, "Are you okay, miss?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking.

"Please forgive me, but why are you so dirty?" He asked.

"I was taking a walk in the woods and I fell down." Rose said. It was the first thing she could think of.

"Is that how you got that cut on your hand?" The black haired boy asked, pointing to it.

She looked at her cut up knuckle. The dried blood was gone from when she hit the tree, but the cuts were still there.

"Yeah, I must've cut it on a stick." Rose said smiling. She was trying to act normal.

"Are you hurt? I can get my mom and dad, we're staying somewhere nearby." He offered.

"No I perfectly fine." Rose said, with a huge smile on her face. A partial bit was from the boy's kindness, another part was from the fact that he doesn't live in Rosewood. He said 'staying somewhere' so that means he wouldn't recognize Rose.

"If you need help, miss. I'm in the neighborhood. If you can't find me just call for me. My name is Derek." He said.

"I will, thank you Derek." Rose said.

He smiled and got back on his bike. Rose stepped aside and let him pass.

She watched him ride off. He was probably the most polite person she has ever met. His parents are teaching him well.

Rose shook her head and got back on track. She began walking back to her house.

Rose stopped mid-step when she passed a stop sign. She looked at in and was speechless. On it was a "Have you seen me?" sign. On it was a picture of Rose. Under the picture was a description of Rose.

" _Have you seen Rose Fitz? Rose has black hair and blue eyes and is about 5'3. She is incredibly sneaky and is good at hiding…"_

It went on for a few more sentences which included contact information and information about the day Rose went missing.

Rose grabbed the poster, about to pull it down, but she couldn't. Tearing one poster down wouldn't solve the problem of people searching for her. She removed her hand and turned away from the poster.

She kept walking.

Rose stopped once again when she got to a familiar house. Rose's heart sunk.

She stood in front of Zoe's house. Rose missed her so badly. Sweet and innocent Zoe. In her driveway, Rose saw Anna and Kara's car. Rose missed them too. Smart and loyal Anna and compassionate and loving Kara.

They were all together. Probably talking about Rose. Vulnerable and gullible Rose.

Rose wanted nothing more than to just walk in there and talk and explain but she couldn't. She knew that she would be hit with questions and tears and they would be angry and sad and not understand and Rose would be pulled back into the A world and be tortured with the face of Zak.

A tear rolled down Rose's face. She wiped it away as fast as it came. When Rose brought her hand down from her face it was black. Was Rose really that dirty?

She took one last look at the house and kept walking.

After five more minuets Rose was finally at her house. She wasn't dumb enough to go and sneak through the front door. She knew her parents would be home so Rose snuck into the backyard.

Rose looked up to her bedroom window. She had no idea how she would get up there. She searched for a ladder or something but there was nothing.

Then it hit her: The tree.

There was a large tree that grew in Rose's backyard. She could climb it and make it to the roof. From there, she could get to her room through her window.

Rose never locked her window, which was extremely stupid of her, so she knew she could get in through that.

Rose walked to the tree. It was huge but it was climbable.

She grabbed the lowest branch and pulled herself up. Well, Rose tried to. She could barely pull herself two feet off the ground. She tried again and got the same result.

Why was this so difficult? Rose is pretty fit; climbing a tree should be easy so how come all of a sudden she couldn't.

Rose's stomach answered this. It growled super loud, loud enough that Derek could probably hear it while he rode his bike.

She _had_ to get up. She took a deep breath in and out and tried again.

Rose made a slight improvement. Instead of two feet off the ground, she made three.

"Come on." She grunted to herself.

She grabbed the branch and pulled. Her chest was now above the branch and all she had to do was swing her leg over and then she was up.

Rose swung her leg. She thought she did it but she swung too hard and lost her balance. She fell to the ground in a loud thud.

When Rose hit the ground, the wind got knocked out of her chest. She stayed on the ground and she didn't want to get up.

She could have stayed there forever, but noise from inside the house forced Rose to stand up.

Footsteps. That's what Rose was hearing. The footsteps were leading to the backyard where Rose was.

She darted to the tree and grabbed the branch. She prayed that she could make it up.

Rose pulled herself up and swung her leg over in her first try. She then proceeded to the second branch and did the same thing. She went high enough so that the leaves could hide her.

Rose waiting for the footsteps to stop, but her heart sunk into her stomach when she heard the backdoor open. Then the footsteps echoed in the backyard.

Rose adjusted her head to see who was in the yard. She got a small glance and saw the mystery person sitting in a lawn chair.

It was her mother, puffy eyed and pale skinned. She's obviously been crying.

In fact, she was crying right now. Not a major sob but a small tear here and there.

Aria sniffled and wiped her tears away. She then looked up at the sky as another tear escaped.

Rose felt a tear roll down her face to. She wanted to jump from the tree and tell her mom she was okay but she couldn't.

Rose watched as her mom put her head down and began whispering to herself.

Was she praying? Aria never prayed. Nobody really prayed in the Fitz family. I guess years of praying for A to go away but it never happening can break your faith in god. But something like your daughter going missing can give you the strength to trust it one more time.

Aria prayed for a good minuet. Rose couldn't hear, but she knew her mother was praying about her.

Rose watched her mother. She wished she knew what she was saying.

Aria finally finished praying. She looked up at the sky again.

"Please don't let her be dead."

Rose's tense posture slumped as her heart fell even further. Now a waterfall fell down her face. Rose was forced to put her hand over her mouth; her sobs were so loud that if she didn't, Aria would probably hear her.

Aria then got up and walked back into the house.

Rose had to do something. She couldn't let her mother think she was dead. It was breaking her. She decided that when she got into her room, she would leave a note for her mom.

Rose considered climbing again but her hands were shaking. She had to wait for her body to calm down. While she waited, Rose put together a plan on what she would do once she got into the house.

She had a secret food stash under her bed that she could grab a few things from. As for water, Rose was sure she would have a water bottle lying around somewhere. She never threw those things away. Then she would shove all her stuff in a bag and climb back out the window and casually walk back into the woods and fill the water bottles up in a river or something in the woods. Yeah, that's seems easy enough.

Rose took a deep breath in and began climbing again. One more branch and she would be aligned with the roof. She climbed it effortlessly, but now it was time for the hard part. She had to make it to the roof.

The branch she was on was long enough to where it was hanging over the roof.

Rose tested it. She yanked and pulled to see if it would be strong enough to hold her weight. When it didn't snap off, Rose figured it was strong enough.

She wrapped her body around the branch, chest down. She extended her arm as far as it could go and grabbed the branch. She then pulled herself and she slid forwards. She did this repeatedly until she was only one more pull and then she would be above the roof.

Rose extended her arm and went to grab the branch but she started to lose her balance again. Her body started to slide off the branch but Rose gripped the branch extremely tightly and pulled her body back up. She grunted as she did so. She was weak so this was extremely difficult. It took a while but she did it.

She then made the last pull so she was above the roof. She looked down; it was about a six feet drop. In order to do this, Rose would have to slide off and hang from the branch. She then would have to let go and make the small drop onto the slanted roof and hopefully not fall off and make little noise to where the people inside would not hear her.

She closed her eyes and prepared herself. She opened her eyes and looked down. She then moved her body to where her body slid off the branch. Her body then shot down and Rose almost let go off the branch because the force was so strong. She gasped as her body flung down, but after the fall, her feet hung about a foot above the roof.

Now she had to drop onto the roof. Her arms were weak from all this pulling so it wasn't long after she was hanging that her arms started to shake.

Without overthinking it, Rose let go of the branch. She dropped and somehow managed to land on her tiptoes. Her light weight made little noise and she kept her balance. Rose smiled at herself. "Nice." She whispered.

She landed in front of her window so she had to make no extra noise walking over to it.

She looked inside to see if anybody was in there. It was the same as how she left it. Still messy, and the door was closed.

Rose smirked and she pulled at the window. Her arms came up but the window didn't. She scrunched her eyebrows and tried again, but the window wouldn't open.

She studied the window. Nothing was jamming it so it should open. Rose then saw the problem. It was locked from the inside.

But how? Rose never locked her window.

She figured it must have been her mother who locked it after Rose went missing. Now she was going to have to find another way to get in. Maybe Rose could find a small branch and lodge it through the crack in the window and unlock it. But the only way to get to the tree from the roof was to jump up and grab the branch and pull yourself up. It was a six feet drop and Rose was short. Even if Rose did manage to grab the branch, she would have to pull herself up and she was too weak to do that.

Rose turned back to the window and sighed. Now what?

She was about to turn away but nothing caught her eye. A folded up tiny piece of paper was lodged into the crack of the window. Rose grabbed it and began to unfold it.

When it was fully open, Rose wanted to throw up.

 _Stay gone or your family gets it._

 _-A_

Rose ripped up the paper and threw it off the side of the house. She watched the shattered paper fall to the ground. Rose then crawled into a little ball and cried.

She didn't want to come back just yet, but she wanted to come back eventually.

Rose lifted her head up from her little ball. She stared into her room. Has anybody been inside sense Rose left? It looked _exact._

Rose stared deep into the window. She scrunched up her eyebrows and grew confused when she saw her reflection in the window. She was almost unrecognizable. Her face was dirty, (except for the tear stains that cleaned parts of her face) her hair was greasy and her face was a lot skinnier.

Rose looked down at herself. Her whole body was a lot skinner. I guess that's what three days of not eating or drinking does to a person. At the thought of food, Rose's stomach growled again.

She had to eat something.

Rose finally got up. She looked over the edge of the roof. It wasn't that far of a drop so if Rose hung over the edge and let go, she would be fine.

She crouched down and slowly started to lower her body, but Rose's arms didn't agree with that. As soon as she brought her body down to hang, Rose's arms failed and she fell from the roof.

She landed on her stomach. It hurt more than when Rose fell from the tree on her back. But since Rose was in plain sight, she got up a lot faster than last time. She grunted as she stood up.

She then snuck out of the backyard and looked to see if anybody was on the street. When nobody was there, Rose began walking. She walked past Zoe's house again and Kara and Anna's cars were still there.

Rose jogged, painfully past Zoe's house and started to walk down the streets of Rosewood again. Just like last time, she kept her head down and nobody asked questions.

Rose turned a corner and immediately regretted it. There were _tons_ of people. She turned down the nearest ally. It was a dead end so Rose would have to get out eventually.

She saw another "Have you seen me?" poster. She rolled her eyes at it.

She was about to go out on the street again when Rose noticed something. She was outside of the brew. The brew sold food.

Rose looked around for a trash can. She spotted one and sprinted for it. She almost knocked the thing over when she reached it.

"Please, please, please, please." She said repeatedly as she lifted up the top of the trash can.

She smiled from ear to ear as she saw a half-eaten coffee cake. Rose grabbed it and devoured the thing in .2 seconds.

Yeah it may seem gross, eating out if the trash. But keep in mind, Rose hasn't eaten in three days. She would eat anything. She looked around for more food, but everything else was just wrappers.

She grunted and refused to believe that there was only one particle bit of food in this entire trash can. Her stomach growled again.

"Okay, I know I'm starving, you don't have to remind me!" Rose said to her stomach. She knew her stomach couldn't hear her but she was angry and there was nobody there for Rose to argue with.

"Miss?"

Rose froze. Maybe she wasn't alone.

She turned from the trash can and saw that Derek was now in the ally with Rose.

"Derek? What are you doing here?" Rose asked, stepping away from the trash can.

"I was going to stop at the brew to get a drink but I saw you digging through the trash." He said, stepping towards Rose.

She took some steps back. Derek couldn't see her. That "Have you seen me?" Sign was still there, and Derek seemed like a smart kid. He could probably put two and two together.

Rose had to think of an excuse. "Yeah, I was at the brew not too long ago, I think I accidentally threw away my credit card." She said smoothly.

"You don't have to lie, miss." He said.

Rose was taken aback. She crossed her arms and said, "I'm not lying, Derek."

"Then how come I saw you eat something out of the trash?" He said.

Rose opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't think of it.

"While I was digging through the trash I…. saw it and I…" Rose tried to think. "Okay, fine you caught me." Rose said in defeat.

"Are you hungry?" Derek asked.

"No." Rose's stomach then growled pointing out that Rose was indeed starving.

"Ok, fine maybe I am a little hungry." Rose said.

"Do you want something to eat, miss?" Derek asked.

"NO!" Rose said a little too loud. She didn't say it in a rude way; she just wouldn't allow this little boy to buy Rose food. She would not let him spend her money on him.

Despite what she said, Rose saw Derek reach for something in his back pocket. He then pulled out a ziploc bag.

"Do you want my cheeze-its?" He asked, holding the bag out for Rose to take.

"Derek, I'm not taking food from you." Rose said, avoiding looking at the bag. If she did, Rose might cry.

"It's okay. My mom packed it for me but I'm not hungry. I'll just throw them away and I don't want to waste food." He said.

"Derek, I'm not-" She stopped when Derek started to shake the bag in a tempting manner.

"You're really not going to eat them?" Rose asked.

"Nope."

Rose then took a few steps forwards. She figured that the ally was dark enough to where he wouldn't recognize her.

Rose was now incredibly close to Rose. He stared straight into her eyes and Rose stared back.

Something about Derek's blue eyes seemed familiar. It was like Rose was staring at herself.

Rose looked down and grabbed the bag full of cheeze-its. She looked back up at Derek. He nodded and let go.

Rose took it and opened it. She grabbed the first cheeze-it and devoured it.

As she was eating, Rose got a good look at the bag. She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Derek asked.

"The bag. It's the same kind my mom buys." Rose said.

It was nothing special. It was a normal ziploc bag but instead of it being clear it was designed with polka-dots.

"Your mom has good style." Derek said.

Rose ate another cheeze-it and smiled. "I know."

"Where is your mom now?" Derek asked. You could tell he was hesitant to ask.

"At home." Rose answered. She didn't look at Derek.

"If you're hungry, why don't you go home and get your mom to make you food?" The little boy asked.

"I don't know." Rose said. "Good question."

Rose shoved three more cheeze-it's into her mouth. Derek watched.

"Thanks for the cheeze-its Derek." Rose said when she caught him staring.

"You're welcome, miss." He said, smiling.

Rose laughed again. "You don't need to call me that."

"You never told me your name. So what should I call you?" He asked.

"You can call me R-" Rose stopped. She couldn't say her name. "-Rachel. My name is Rachel." Rose said. It was the first R name that popped into Rose's head.

"Okay. You're welcome, Rachel." He said.

Rose smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Why don't head back to where you're staying, Derek. I'm sure your parents are worried about you." Rose said.

"Yeah, they're pretty stressed out lately" He said, looking down. His happy smile transformed into a sad pouty lip.

Rose could tell that this was really bugging the poor kid.

Rose knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. "Derek. I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sure they'll figure it out. Parents always do." Rose said in her best comforting voice.

"I know." He said, looking at Rose.

"You being gone for a long time is probably adding to their stress." Rose said.

"Yeah. They don't let me be around when they talk about it, but sometimes I sneak around a listen to what they're talking about." He said.

"What do they talk about?" Rose asked.

"Some girl." Derek said, looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Derek. I don't think there is anything you can do about it, but you can at least be there for your parents." Rose said, gripping his shoulder.

"Yeah, okay." He said. He started to walk off but he quickly turned around and said, "Rachel?"

Rose almost didn't respond, but then she remembered that was fake name.

"Yeah, Derek?" Rose replied.

"Can you walk me home?" He asked.

Rose wanted to so badly. Derek was the sweetest kid she had ever met and she wanted to talk to him more and get to know him better. She only sent him home because family comes first. Even though Rose really hasn't been following that rule.

"I'm sorry, Derek, I can't." Rose said.

"Why not?" He said in a heartbreaking tone.

"I have somewhere I have to be." Rose said. She wasn't really lying. She had to get back to the hill.

"Will you walk me back next time?" He asked.

Rose smiled. He wanted to meet her again. "Of course I will." Rose answered. Next time Derek and her meet, Rose will hopefully have found out a way to come home.

He smiled and turned back around. "Bye, Rachel." He said as he got back on his bike.

"Bye, Derek." Rose said back.

He was smiling as he rode off. Rose was smiling too. There was something special about that kid.

She looked down at the polka-dotted bag containing the cheeze-its. She closed it and tucked the bag away in her pocket. It would be a while until he ate again so she decided that she would save the cheeze-its for later.

Rose walked to the end of the ally and looked to see if anyone was around.

A few people were but not as much as before so Rose took this opportunity to sneak away.

She kept her head down and walked all the way out of Rosewood without anyone noticing.

She then entered the woods and made her way back to her hill. It was the same as it was before. Few things were there. Her phone was one of them. It was dead by now so Rose thought that it would be useless for her to bring it with her into Rosewood. Another thing was a patch of moss Rose got from a nearby tree. The second night of being out here, Rose ripped it off a tree not too far from the hill and used it as a pillow. The only other things were a rock, incase somebody found Rose and tried to get her to come back, and the last thing was the rose necklace that Zak had given Rose.

Yes, when Rose found out Zak was A, she did rip it off her neck, but she never threw it away. It was the only thing that made Rose feel safe. When she was alone at night freezing her butt of, she would squeeze the necklace and suddenly she would feel warm again.

Or when Rose heard a twig snap or any other strange noise come out of the woods behind her, Rose would squeeze it and the noise would stop and the fear would go away.

The necklace didn't symbolize Zak and Rose's relationship anymore. It symbolizes Rose's strength.

Rose walked to the edge of the hill and looked at the town. It was small. She could see her house from the hill. She could even see Zoe's. It looked like Anna's car was gone now.

Rose sat down and let her legs dangle over the side. Her stomach growled and she took the bag of cheeze-its from her pocket. She also grabbed the necklace.

Rose munched on her snack and stared at the necklace. The clasp on it was broken from when she ripped it from her neck, so she couldn't wear it, but it was nice to hold.

She grabbed it and studied it. Rose just now noticed how much detail Zak had put into it. He was really good at acting like he loved her.

She held the necklace in one hand and the cheeze-it bag in the other.

She looked at Rosewood again. It was starting to get dark so people were slowly starting to put on their porch lights. Rose hoped Derek made it home already so he didn't have to ride his bike in the dark.

It was silent. The only noise came from Rose's mouth as she chewed on her cheeze-its. But then…

"I see you still have the necklace."

Rose jumped out of fear. She jumped so much, that her butt scooted over the edge.

She screamed as she fell down. Rose managed to grab onto some tree roots or something before she fell too far.

Rose held on for dear life. Her hands were shaking like crazy. She was too weak to hold on. She would fall quickly if she didn't get up soon.

Then she remembered the voice that scared her in the first place.

"Help!" Rose yelled.

Just then they popped there head over the ledge.

Zak.

"Oh god not you." Rose said, looking up at him.

He reached his hand down. Rose looked away.

"No, get away from me." She yelled, struggling to hold on.

"Rose, take my hand!" Zak yelled extending his arm even further.

"No!" Rose yelled, looking down. It was a long way down.

"Do you want to die?" He yelled down.

"Maybe now that you're here!" She yelled, finally looking at Zak.

"Rose, don't be stupid! Take my hand!" He said. He was dangerously close to falling over the edge himself.

Rose looked around her. If she let go of one hand, she was scared that her other hand wouldn't be able to support her for those few seconds.

"I can't!" She yelled up at him.

"Yes you can, Rose!"

She looked at her hands. She was somehow still holding the necklace and the cheeze-its in opposite hands.

"Rose, say something!" He said after Rose was silent for a while.

She continued to look at her shaking hands with the two items. She needed to let one go. But did she let go of her only food source or did she let go of her only thing that provided comfort.

"Rose!" Zak yelled again.

"Give me a minute!" She yelled angrily.

"You don't have a minuet just give me your damn hand!"

Rose looked between the items one more time. She closed her eyes and opened them up and looked up at Zak.

"You ready?" She yelled.

"I've been ready for the past five minutes!"

She let go of the cheeze-its and lunged for Zak's hand.

He griped his hand around Rose's. His other hand was holding onto a tree for balance. He then pulled Rose up effortlessly.

When she was safely on the ground, Zak asked, "Are you okay?" he then put a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off. "Don't touch me." She looked at him. He was wearing the black hoodie. Why was he wearing that?

"Rose." He said in a disappointed voice.

She said nothing. She turned her back to Zak and crouched next to her stuff.

"Rose, look at me." He said.

"Why should I?" Rose said in a snarky voice.

"Because I just saved your life."

"No, you actually made it worse." Rose said. She put the necklace down and slowly wrapped her hand around the rock.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He said.

"Maybe if I had just fallen I would be relieved from this shithole called life." She said, tightening her grip.

"So you want to die?" He said. Rose could hear his footsteps. He was getting closer to her.

"If it meant getting away from you, then yes." She said.

He was now directly behind Rose. "Rose, don't say-"

Rose shot up from the ground and aimed the rock for his head.

He gripped Rose's wrist before the rock could meet its target.

He gripped Rose's wrist hard.

"Let it go." He said slowly.

She squirmed to get her wrist free but was unsuccessful.

Zak gave her one last stern look.

She looked in his eyes and let the rock fall to the ground. He then let Rose's wrist go and picked up the rock. He then threw it over the side of the hill.

"What was that for?" He said when he turned back around.

"You made me drop my cheeze-its." Rose said angrily.

"That's why you wanted to bash my head in with a rock?" He said in disbelief.

"No. I'm just saying that you made me drop my only food source." Rose said, looking over the edge.

Zak closed his eyes and sighed. Rose watched as he picked up a bag. He must've brought it up with him. He picked it up and unzipped it.

Rose watched him carefully. She had no idea what was in that bag. He could pull out a weapon. She wished she still had her rock.

He then pulled something out that almost made Rose lunge at him.

A bottle of water.

Rose stared at it. It was now that she realized how dry her throat was.

He then also pulled out another bag that contained something, but Rose couldn't tell what it was.

He held the water and the unknown item out to Rose.

"Here." He said, nodding his head at the stuff.

She approached him slowly. When Rose got there, she saw that a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich was inside the bag.

She wasn't going to grab it, but her hunger overtook Rose's body and she snatched the food and water from Zak's hands.

She grabbed it and ran back to her spot. She sat down and tore into the peanut butter and jelly and gulped down the water in-between bites.

"You better slow down or you'll puke that all back up." Zak said, walking over to the edge.

Rose watched him as he sat down with his legs dangling over the edge.

She could easily sneak up and push him over, but Rose didn't want to kill Zak. Yea, Rose tried to hit him in the head with the rock, but she wasn't meaning to kill him. She only wanted to knock him out long enough to when Rose could take her stuff and relocate so Zak wouldn't know where she was.

Rose took her food and water and walked over to Zak and sat down next to him.

"Why are you wearing the hoodie?" She asked annoyed.

"It's the warmest thing I own and it's freezing up here." Zak said as if it was obvious.

It was silent as they both looked over the edge.

"How did you find me?" Rose asked, still looking out at Rosewood.

"I saw you in the woods remember? Then you punched that tree." He said, also looking at Rosewood.

Rose now looked at him. "That was actually you?"

"Yeah. It wasn't your imagination." He said, now looking at Rose.

"Why didn't you come talk to me that first night?" Rose asked, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

"I thought you would leave the next morning. And also, I knew that if you saw me you would go crazy." He said.

"If you knew I would go crazy then why did you come see me now?"

"I wasn't going to talk to you. I noticed that you hadn't eaten in a while so I was going to leave the bag of food, but then I saw that you still had the necklace and I had hope."

"Just because I still have it doesn't mean that I forgave you." Rose said looking back at the town. It was dark now.

"Then why didn't you drop the necklace?" He said, also turning to the town.

"Because when I have it I feel strong. It keeps me sane. I didn't keep it because of you." Rose said to the side of his face.

"Sorry I misread it."

Rose looked down at her lap. "Can I ask you a question?"

He turned to Rose. "Yeah?"

She looked up and looked at Zak in the eyes. "Why?"

"Why did I take the job of A's assistant?"

Rose nodded.

"I needed the money." He said plainly.

"You thought it would be okay to stalk and torture a group of four girls because you could make money?" Rose said in disbelief.

"It was a lot of money and I was broke."

"How much money?"

"Enough to buy a house. Maybe a car." He said.

"So you didn't go to college?" Rose asked. "You never went to Hollis?"

"Nope. Never did and probably never will. I don't have the money."

"Okay so you took this job for money. What exactly did you have to do?"

"I had to do anything that A told me to do." Zak said, looking ashamed.

"And how much of these A attacks were you?" Rose asked.

"Well, I can tell you that I never sent any texts or left any notes." He said.

"None?"

"None."

"What else?" Rose asked.

She was scared to hear the answer. Just how much of Zak and Rose's relationship was a lie?  
"I'll start from the beginning." He said.

"My first task was spilling the coffee on you." Zak said, turning away from Rose.

"I figured. I got an A text right before you did it." Rose said.

"In the beginning, I didn't have to do much. I was told to get to know you."

"Why me?"

"A thought you were the most vulnerable." Zak said, sending a sad look to Rose.

She rolled her eyes. One reason because A thought that, and the second was that Zak was acting like they were friends again.

"Okay what else?" Rose said, scared to hear the rest.

"Did Anna ever mention that A chased her through the park with a knife?" Zak asked.

Rose's eyes grew wide. "That was you?!"

"No I was somewhere else. I was spying on Zoe." Zak said, looking at Rose.

"Zoe?"

"Yeah. Around the same time she was out walking all alone so I followed her. Then I saw someone approach her and they started yelling at her and grabbing her and when he pushed her to the ground and dragged her into the woods, I realized that I had to do something."

Rose listened carefully. She already knew where this was going.

"I lost them in the woods. I was freaking out because I knew where it was going but then I heard Zoe scream and when I found her it was too late. He was already on top of her." Zak said, picking at his fingernails.

"You were the one who got Daniel off of Zoe?" Rose asked with her mouth hanging open.

"I knew that I wasn't supposed to get that close, but nobody ever has the right to do that to another person." Zak said, looking back up at Rose.

"But Zoe thought she saw female parts." Rose said.

"Yeah, well Zoe was about ready to pass out when I found her. She must have hallucinated or something." Zak said.

Rose nodded. "Continue."

"She passed out not long after I chased Daniel away. I grabbed all her stuff and took her back home. I put her in clean clothes and laid her down in her bed. I didn't leave until the horror on her face disappeared."

"Wow." Rose said. "You were the one who helped Zoe."

"Yup. And I got a hell of a beating for it." Zak said.

"A beat you up for saving a girl being raped?" Rose said in disgust.

"A has no soul. You know that by now." Zak said.

Rose smiled to show her agreement. "Okay, what about the corn maze?"

"I wasn't there at all. I know as much as you do." He said.

"You know nothing about what happened to Anna and Chelsey?" Rose asked.

"Nothing." Zak said.

"Okay, well what about the night Kara was kidnapped and thrown into Anna's shed? I know you were there. Kara said she saw two of you." Rose stated. She also saw him on the video that was on the flash drive.

"Yeah, I was there. I knew that A was going after Kara by sneaking up on her, so while she was on the front porch I tried to get her attention. I know how stubborn she is, so I thought that if I stood in the road and waved at her, she would come after me and I could lead her away from the other A, but she didn't move and A got her." Zak said with disappointment in his voice.

Rose fiddled with the backing of her earring as she tried to process all of the information. "Where did you go after that?"

"I went to the shed. I was trying to get Kara out before any of you noticed but that Dylan guy tackled me before I could get the locks off." Dylan said.

"That was you? I flicked you off!" Rose said, remembering that night.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. I looked awfully suspicious."

Rose was silent as Zak continued.

"The day after the shed incident, Kara confronted me at the brew." Zak said.

Rose remembered that day. Kara kept refusing to tell Rose anything, but then Rose ambushed Owen and practically forced the truth out of him.

"She was questioning me about you. She was wondering what my intentions where. I barley kept my cool in front of her. I felt so guilty. Thank god she didn't notice. Well, the guilt at least. She did notice a gigantic bruise on my arm." Zak explained.

"A bruise?" Rose questioned.

"Yeah. Dylan left a lot on me. Most I covered up but she managed to see the one. I played it off by saying that I was setting something up for you." Zak said.

"I was your excuse?" Rose said feeling a little ashamed.

"It wasn't a complete lie. I was getting ready for the night when you first slept over at my apartment. I just lied on where I got the bruise." Zak pointed out.

Rose smiled at the thought of that night. It was one of her favorite memories. But then she remembered how it was all fake and her smile dropped quickly.

Rose looked down. "What about the cameras?"

He looked away with a guilty expression on his face. "That I'm guilty of."

Rose was actually kind of shocked. He helped Rose take all of the cameras down. Why would he destroy all the work he did? It was probably an act now that Rose thought about it.

"How much of it did you do?" Rose asked.

"All of it." He said, looking out at the town.

Rose shook her head. "How did you manage to set them all up?"

"All four of you were constantly together, so when you were all gathered at one place, I snuck into your houses and set them up." Zak admitted.

"That's why you knew exactly where all the cameras where." Rose said, staring at her house. There was barley any light from the sun left.

"What about the time A locked me in the basement and forced me to watch videos of my mom being tortured? And when A strangled me?" Rose said, praying that the answer was no. She looked at Zak.

"That wasn't me." Zak said, turning his head to Rose.

"So you weren't the A that was on top of my car that Kara warned me about?"

"Nope. I had nothing to do with that experience."

"Why didn't you try to stop A if you knew that he was going to do that to me?" Rose said sounding defensive.

"I didn't know that they were going to do it." Zak said. "I never knew half the stuff that A was planning to do. I did what I was told… at first."

"At first?" Rose asked, questioning his sentence.

"Immediately I knew what I was doing was wrong, so I rarely listened. Yeah, I got punished but it didn't matter. I deserved it."

"You were punished?" Rose asked. "How?"

"Well, for one thing. A wanted me to kill Caleb." Zak said quickly.

Rose felt her stomach do a backflip. "Kill him?" Rose said, her voice shaking.

"Yeah. They were upset about the whole flash drive thing and A was so serious about that stupid flash drive. So when Caleb didn't listen, A wanted to send a message. So that coward sent me to do their dirty work." Zak said through gritted teeth.

"But you didn't kill him. You still attacked him." Rose said, putting the pieces together. "That's still a terrible thing, Zak! That's Kara's dad! You could've left Kara fatherless and her mom a widow." Rose yelled.

"I realized that so I didn't do it." Zak said with a sly grin.

"You didn't?"

"No. I would never kill or attack someone. No amount of money could persuade me." Zak said in a way that made it sound obvious.

"So what was your punishment?" Rose asked.

"A officially cut me off. They stopped giving me money. All A left me with was the guilt and that's enough to make me hate myself.

Rose had tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know why, maybe it was the fact that Zak never did anything to bad.

"But you never physically harmed us?" Rose asked, her voice cracking.

"I never drew blood." He confirmed.

"Then there is no need to feel guilty. If what you're saying is true, everything you did was to help us." Rose said, trying her best to make Zak feel better.

Zak shook his head. "It's not enough."

"I don't know about Anna, Kara or Zoe, but I want you know that I forgive you, Zak." It was tough to say, but it was true. Zak really did do anything to harm the girls, emotionally, maybe, but all he was doing was trying to help.

"You do?" Zak said. He sounded shocked.

Rose nodded her head.

He smiled. He was silent but Rose knew that her words had helped him.

Rose felt the first tear drip down her face. She still had one more question.

"One more thing." She said, avoiding eye contact with Zak.

Rose felt his eyes on her. "Yeah?"

Rose closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "Did you ever love me?"

"Absolutely." He said almost immediately.

Rose then looked up. His response took her by surprise.

"C'mon you're Rose Fitz. Who wouldn't fall in love with you?" He said, wiping the tears from Rose's face.

She closed her eyes and allowed him to do so.

"I remember the exact moment." He said.

Rose opened her eyes and saw that tears were in his eyes to. "When?" She asked. She thought this whole time that Zak was playing with her.

"Do you remember our first date?" He asked, smiling.

"Olive Garden." Rose answered. She remembered how she stole Zak's credit card hoping to fool A into think that it was her dads. If only Rose knew back then that Zak was working with A.

"I knew that you my credit card." He said. "I actually admired you. I was impressed that you would do something so risky like that to help your dad."

Rose listened to every word, anxious to hear what she did to pull the villain to the light side.

"Remember when I tried to kiss you?" Zak asked.

"Oh yeah, I remember." Rose said, laughing.

She remembered that she refused to kiss Zak because she felt so guilty about using his credit card.

"When you refused I knew exactly why. You were guilty about taking my card."

Rose nodded, confirming that that was why.

"I remember thinking about how big of a heart and how much courage you had. I loved how you would do anything to protect your family. Right after I felt that spark, I started wondering what you could have done to piss of A enough for them to do this. I couldn't find a reason and I knew that it was wrong."

"So it was when I refused to kiss you that you fell for me?" Rose asked.

"Didn't you realize how fast I left? I was freaking out. I spent that night trying to get over you because I knew I had a job to do, but I couldn't. I tried my hardest to stay away from you, so I could forget about you, but then I heard about the corn maze and I had to make sure you were okay." Zak said with regret in his voice.

Rose finally turned to look at Zak. "Do you still love me?" She asked daringly.

Zak stared deeply into Rose's eyes. He rested his hand on the side of Rose's face. "I will _always_ love you." He said smoothly.

Without even processing it, Rose leaned in and kissed Zak.

It was wet from tears, but it was the best kiss she had received from him because this one took effort. It was well overdue and Zak let Rose hate him.

When they pulled away, Rose asked, "Why did you wait so long to tell me all this?"

"I was waiting for you to get over me so when I came to see you, you wouldn't fall apart."

Rose's heart flooded with love. She kissed him again.

"I managed to afford a small apartment outside of Rosewood. And no offense, but you stink." Zak said when they broke apart. Rose laughed.

"Are you inviting me to your apartment?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Yeah." He said, smiling back. "You could take a shower and sleep in an actual bed and have food always available to you." Zak said, gripping Rose's hands.

It sounded amazing, but she couldn't leave Rosewood. She couldn't leave her family.

"Zak, I can't leave." Rose said.

"It's no different than you staying up on this hill. Well, except for the fact that you'll actually have a roof over your head." Zak pointed out.

"I know it's hard to understand, but I can't leave Rosewood." Rose said.

She then stood up and made her way to her spot. She reached down and picked up her necklace and squeezed it.

Zak got up to and followed her. "It's not difficult to understand at all." He said.

She turned around to look at him. She smiled. "Thanks."

He smiled back.

Rose looked down at the necklace in her hand. She noticed all the dirt. She then looked down at her outfit. It looked the same.

"How far away is your apartment?" Rose asked.

"Pretty far." He said. "Why?"

Rose gestured to her whole body. "I could use a shower."

He laughed. "We could get a taxi, I'm sure we could find one."

"Don't you think they would question a disgusting dirty girl like me?" Rose asked laughing.

"There are plenty of excuses." Zak said.

"Like what?"

"We could say we were camping." Zak suggested.

Rose nodded her head. "Okay, we can try that. But once I get my shower over with you have to drive me back to Rosewood!" Rose said strictly.

He held his hand out. "Deal."

Rose shook it.

Rose put the necklace in her pocket as the two made their way through the woods.

Rose looked at the sky full of stars. It was now completely dark. One of the best things about Rosewood was the stars. You could always see them.

The two were now almost to the road. Zak turned to Rose.

"So when we get to the road, we should walk north. That will lead us further out of Rosewood. When we get in the taxi, the driver should have no need to question. He won't have heard about the missing girl in Rosewood."

Rose nodded her head. It sounded like a plan.

"When we come back to Rosewood, where are you going to want me to drop you off?" Zak asked.

Rose thought about it. Where did she want to go? She wanted to go home, but she couldn't. Not after that threat from A. But Rose knew she would miss the quietness of the hill. However, Rose missed everyone deeply. She needed to see them, but she also wanted to make sure they were safe.

She began walking aimlessly.

"Rose, I need an answer." Zak pressured.

She kept walking. She couldn't decide. Family or safety?

"Rose were getting close to the road now, you need to make a decision."

Family or safety?

Family or safety?

Family or safety?

Family _is_ safety.

Rose escaped from her daze. She looked up to find herself in the middle of the road.

She turned her head and saw a car speeding towards her.

"ROSE!" Zak screamed.

Rose was frozen in place. She watched as the car sped towards her.

It was just a few feet from hitting Rose when it swerved to the left. It was when the car made the sharp turn that Rose saw who was in it.

Anna, Zoe and Kara.

Right after Rose saw them, she was thrown off her feet.

Zak had pushed Rose out of the way and she was now laying on the cool forest floor as she watched the car speed towards a tree.

Rose sat up as she watched it go. She stood up and tried to run after it. She knew she couldn't stop it, but Rose had to try something.

She wasn't even close as Rose watched the car slam into the tree.

"No!" Rose cried out as she fell to her knees.

Zak had his hand on Rose's shoulder in a matter of seconds.

"Who was in there?"

Rose stood up as she waddled over to the crushed car. "Anna, Kara and Zoe." Rose said in scattered breaths.

She ran to the car and looked through the driver's seat window. They were all in there and they were all unconscious. Or at least Rose hoped.

She looked up at Zak with blurry eyesight from tears. "Help me get them out."

He ran over to the car and went to the back seat where Kara was.

"Please be unlocked." Rose pleaded as she pulled on the door. She smiled when it opened. Rose reached in and grabbed Anna. She pulled her from the car and rested her on Rose's shoulder.

Rose searched her body. She wasn't bleeding and nothing seemed completely wrong. She had a few scratched and bruises but overall, she seemed okay. The airbag must have saved her life.

Rose wrapped her arms around Anna's waist and tried to lift her up. The problem was that Anna was tall (the tallest) and Rose was short (the shortest).

Rose took a deep breath and finally managed to get her full body out of the car. Rose laid her down on the ground. She had to get her away from the car.

The only way Rose would be able to transfer her was by dragging her.

Rose grabbed one of Anna's legs and started to drag Anna into the woods.

"I'm sorry." Rose kept saying. She was apologizing for dragging her and causing them to crash.

If any of them were seriously injured, Rose would never forgive herself.

Rose put Anna's leg down when they were about thirty feet from the car. She looked down at Anna to see some new found blood on Anna's head. Rose frantically searched for a wound but she couldn't find one.

Rose put a hand to her forehead, hoping that it would calm her down, but she freaked out even more when Rose felt the blood on herself.

She looked at her hand. The wound from punching the tree had opened up again. It was fresh blood, like the blood an Anna, so Rose let out a breath of relief as she realized that Anna had no bleeding wounds.

Rose watched as Zak laid Kara down a good ten feet from where Rose put Anna.

Rose took one last look at Anna and then ran to Kara to see her condition. She must have hit a seat or something because her head had a large gash in it.

Rose searched frantically for something to stop the bleeding but she couldn't find anything. Rose watched a tear fall from her face. "I'm so sorry, Kara." Rose whispered.

Rose put a bloodied hand over her mouth as she watched Zak head back to the car. They still needed to get Zoe.

Rose stood up and looked down at Kara. "I'll be right back." She said.

Rose then ran back to the car as Zak opened the passenger seat door.

She watched as Zak pulled her body from the car. Rose fell back when she saw Zoe. She fell and hit the door. She pushed a button as the car responded with a beeping noise. She must have locked it.

Rose looked at Zoe as she felt her heart break. Zoe's right leg was not in the position it was supposed to be.

Rose followed as Zak carried Zoe into the woods. He then set her down even further from the other two.

Rose looked down at Zoe. Her face looked peaceful, but that wasn't enough. Rose looked down at her leg again and almost threw up.

"I did this." Rose said, staring at it.

"No you didn't." Zak said from behind Rose.

She snapped her head back at him. "Don't you dare! If I didn't walk into the road they wouldn't have had to spin out if control!" When she finished, millions of tears poured from her face.

Zak looked sad as he looked at Rose.

"I'm going to check on Anna and Kara." He said, pointing behind his back.

Rose nodded and looked back at Zoe and cried. Her condition was the worst.

After a few minutes, Rose heard Zak yell something at Rose.

"What?" Rose said, turning her head to look at him.

"Kara is waking up!" He said back.

Rose shot up. She looked back at Zoe. "Don't worry. I will see you again."

She then ran over to Kara and her eyes were fluttering open and she was slowly starting to move her body.

Rose grabbed Zak's arm. "We have to go!" She said.

He turned to her. "What, why?"

"I can't see them while they're awake. They'll start reacting to their pain and I won't be able to live with myself if I see all the pain there in faces." Rose said as tears and snot rolled down her face.

"We can't leave them." He pointed out.

"Then you stay! I can't watch them." Rose said.

He nodded his head. "Okay. Go back to the hill and I'll watch them until they get help."

"Thank you." Rose said in a scratchy voice.

She then looked at all three girls one more time, and then she ran off.

Rose was almost to the hill when she heard some screaming.

She froze in place when she heard it.

"ANNA! ZOE!"

It was Kara.

Rose forced herself to keep walking. She got to her hill and she sat at the edge covering he ears.

She kept hearing Kara scream Anna's name.

Why won't Anna wake up? Rose started to freak out. She didn't remember feeling a pulse.

The screaming eventually stopped.

It was quite for almost a minuet until Rose heard a different noise. It was a gasp.

Rose then heard a faint conversation. She couldn't really make it out but she heard the words: "it's pointing in the wrong direction."

It was Anna's voice. They must have found Zoe.

It was silent again.

It was quite for too long. Why? What happened?

Rose got up from the ledge about to go find Zak and find out what happened when she heard a blood curdling scream. It was Kara.

Rose put her hands over her ears but she couldn't drown out the screaming. She fell to her knees as the screaming lasted for a few minutes. It felt like forever.

Rose stood up and looked towards to woods. She was looking for some movement or something. Nothing came.

It was about twenty minutes until something happened.

Rose heard another loud gasp from Anna. It was killing Rose that they kept making noises like that and she wished that they would stop.

Rose closed her eyes and only opened them when she was facing Rosewood again.

She pulled the rose necklace from her pocket and squeezed it.

Rose watched as she saw a car speed through Rosewood. She focused on it. Maybe it would distract her.

It was going way over the speed limit and it was heading out of Rosewood. In fact, it was heading towards the woods.

Did the girls manage to get hold of a phone? Rose prayed that they did.

Rose continued to watch it as it sped off. It was heading for the exact spot that Anna crashed her car.

Rose watched cheerfully until it got swallowed but the woods and Rose wouldn't see it anymore.

She smiled as she realized that the girls would be okay.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Rose shot her head back towards the woods.

It was Anna's voice. Who was she going to kill?

No, she needed to stay put so that car could get her.

Rose heard fast footsteps. In fact, she heard two sets of footsteps. One of them was obviously Anna, and the other had to be Zak. He seemed to be the only other one who could walk.

The footsteps were getting quieter. Good, Zak was leading Anna away from her.

"Anna!" It was Kara talking. "Anna, come on, Dylan's here!"

Rose let out another breath of relief. That speeding car, Dylan, finally made it.

The speeding footsteps stopped.

Rose then heard the woods grow silent. It lasted for only a second.

She heard footsteps again, except this time they were getting closer.

Zak then emerged from the woods.

"Dylan got them. There fine." He said, taking the hood off his head.

Rose smiled as more tears fell from her face. She ran up to him and hugged him.

"Thanks for leading her away from me." Rose said into Zak's shoulder.

"You're welcome."

The two then broke apart and they both walked to the edge.

Rose saw Dylan's car speed back towards Rosewood.

Rose's mood changed from scared and worried to happy and relieved in a matter of seconds.

She watched the car.

"They're going to be okay."

* * *

 **AN: So that was a long one.**

 **Okay, like I said before. The last chapter and this one were important and you had to have paid attention in the last chapter to understand a lot of things.**

 **The contest will go on for one more week, so remember to review and tell me your favorite chapter and why and leave a boy's name. It may win!**

 **Also, leave me some questions because I'm going to make another YouTube video answering questions. I'll only make it if I get at least 7 questions. They could be personal questions or questions about the story.**

 **Okay, thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	26. Damaged

**AN: Hellooooooo!**

 **I must say, I'm in an extremely good mood!**

 **Maybe it's because a lot of you understood the last chapter and you were able to connect the dots!**

 **And also, don't forget to enter my contest; it'll take you two minutes!**

 **Roseriotgrrl and Dreamcatcher0702 followed and favorited!**

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 **Also…. I have the lovely opportunity to have a set of German followers join the PLB story! Dreamcatcher0702 offered to translate the story into German so Germans can enjoy the story too!**

 **Thank you sooooo much!**

 **Enjoy chapter 24!**

* * *

The doctors said that Zoe's leg was one of the worst they've seen.

They managed to put her leg back in its natural position, but the doctors weren't sure if there would be permanent damage.

At this very moment, Zoe's mothers were trying to get Zoe to talk about what happened, but Zoe wasn't sure what happened herself.

So as her parents pressured her to spill, Zoe turned her head and stared at her X-rays that where displayed next to her hospital bed.

"Zoe!"

She turned her head and faced her parents.

"What happened?" Emily asked, a stern look on her face.

"I already told you everything!" Zoe said, slightly annoyed. Tears started to form in her eyes.

Alison shook her head. "There has to be something you're forgetting. I mean how is it that none of you remember how you ended up in the woods."

Zoe then remembered that girl she saw in the road.

"I saw a girl in the road before we crashed." Zoe said to her parents.

They shot their eyes towards Zoe.

"A girl?" Emily asked.

"Yes, a girl. She was dirty and grimy and in the middle road. She was the reason why Anna crashed." Zoe remembered.

Emily and Alison looked at each other. Ali then turned her head to Zoe.

"Do you think this girl was A?" Alison asked.

Zoe shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't A."

"Then who was it?" Emily asked frantically.

Zoe avoided eye contact. "I didn't want to mention it earlier while Mr. and Mrs. Fitz where here, but I think it was Rose."

Zoe watched as her mothers' facial expressions grew even more confused.

Emily reached for Alison's hand. Alison took it and they gripped their hands tightly together. "Rose?" Alison said weakly.

"She may have been covered head to toe, but I know it was Rose. I can't explain it but it's Rose." Zoe said, jealously looking at her parents holding hands. Zoe wanted comfort too.

"We have to tell Aria and Ezra." Emily said to Alison. Alison shook her head.

"Like, right now." Emily added.

Alison looked at Zoe. "Are you okay being alone for a few minutes?"

Zoe nodded her head. "Yeah. Go tell them."

"Try and remember more of what happened." Emily said as she and Alison stood up from off the bed.

"I was passed out for most of it; I don't remember most of what happened." Zoe reminded them for the millionth time.

They smiled as they both kissed Zoe's forehead. "We know. Just…try." Alison said. She made a weird facial expression, she knew what she said was impossible.

Zoe nodded and they walked out the door.

She looked around her hospital room. It was small. Zoe got bored of it easily. She tried her hardest to avoid the X-rays of her leg. She didn't know much about bones, but she knew that there shouldn't be that large of a disconnection.

Zoe looked down at her blankets. She grabbed them and ripped them off. She was sweating and there was no fan.

Zoe watched the white blanket fall to the ground. She then looked at her leg.

A large white cast that started from her foot all the way up to her hip replaced her right leg. It was pretty boring. Only two signatures were on it: Her parent's.

They were the only ones who had seen Zoe since she got to the hospital. She loved her parents, but Zoe wished that she could talk to someone else.

Who Zoe _really_ wanted to talk to where Kara and Anna. She didn't even know what their conditions where.

Just then, the door opened. Zoe perked up as her curiosity took over.

It was Cory.

She slumped back down and smiled when she saw him. A look of relief washed over his face and he limped to Zoe's side.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly when he got there.

"I'm fine." Zoe said through a big smile. She reached down and grabbed his hand. "I'm fine." She repeated.

"What the hell happened? I'm out searching for Rose and next thing I know, I'm getting a call from your mothers saying that you're in the hospital with your leg practically detached from your body!" He said, staring down at Zoe's cast.

"Anna, Kara and I got into a car accident." Zoe said, following his eyes down Zoe's leg.

"I was knocked out for most of it. I just remember the tree… and then I was in the woods with my leg facing the wrong way." Zoe said.

Cory looked back up at Zoe with a hurt look. "I'm so sorry."

Zoe shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"No, it is. If I stayed with you I could have prevented the crash." Cory said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Don't you dare even think that!" Zoe said, grabbing Cory's hand and gripping it hard.

"I could have-"

"Stop! No you couldn't have. There was this heated argument and it was impossible to break through it and then the stupid GPS wouldn't shut up and then… Boom." Zoe said, her voice cracking as she spoke.

She put her hand to her throat. She couldn't remember the last time she drank some water.

Zoe looked over Cory's shoulder at a bottle of water on a nearby counter.

She nodded at it. "Can you get me that?"

Cory looked up at Zoe as he snapped out of his own little reality. "What?"

"Can you please get me that water?" Zoe said with a scratchy voice. She pointed at it this time.

He turned around and looked at the bottle. He got up and grabbed it.

He handed it back to Zoe, still in a daze.

Zoe grabbed the bottle as she stared at Cory's face.

She tried to sit up, but her back was killing her. She didn't know why, but she wouldn't let Cory see. He would only worry more.

"Snap out of it, Cory. It's not like I'll be stuck in here forever. My leg can be fixed." Zoe said, unscrewing the cap as she continued to stare at him.

"I'm just worried about what happens once the cast comes off." He said, staring at Zoe's leg again.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"I'm scared about permanent damage. Your leg was basically disconnected." He said, looking at Zoe's X-rays. Zoe looked at them too. "It's scary how similar our X-rays look. It's almost identical from when I got hit."

Zoe stared deep at her X-rays. She felt a tear roll down her face. She then turned to Cory and put a fake smile on her face. "I'll be fine."

"Don't give yourself false hope." He said sympathetically.

"I'll be fine." Zoe said through gritted teeth. She would be fine. She had to be fine.

Cory had a look of disappointment on his face as he turned away from Zoe.

Zoe looked away as she finally took a sip of her water. It tasted weird. It was bitter. It almost tasted metallically.

The taste was so strong that she made a sour face. Zoe looked down at the bottle for the first time.

It wasn't water.

Zoe screamed as she chucked the water across the room.

Cory jumped at Zoe's scream. He stared at her with a look of worry on his face.

"What?" He said, concerned.

Zoe closed her eyes and put her hands on her face. She shook her head and tried to get the taste out of her mouth.

The taste of blood wouldn't go away.

Zoe started to gag.

Cory was now at Zoe's side. "Zoe. Zoe, what's wrong?" He said, putting a hand on Zoe's back.

She couldn't stop gagging.

Zoe swallowed blood. She has someone else's blood in her digestive system. The thought of that made Zoe gag even more. She wanted it out of her system.

She managed to stop gagging long enough to say, "Hand me the trash can."

Confused, Cory did what he was told.

He handed the small trash can to Zoe as she felt the bile rise up her throat. She released the reddish/brown vomit into the trash can. As she did this, it felt like Zoe's back was ripping apart.

In a matter of seconds, Cory was sitting next to Zoe on her bed, holding her hair back.

"Zoe, what the heck happened?" He asked, using one hand to hold Zoe's hair and the other was rubbing Zoe's back.

She wiped her mouth. "The water bottle." She squeaked out.

Cory put Zoe's hair to one side and got up. "You want it?" He asked.

Zoe nodded her head as she put the trash can on the ground next to her. The blood taste was finally gone, but the burning acid of the vomit now replaced it.

Cory bent down and grabbed the water bottle. He looked confused. He studied the water bottle.

"Is this blood?" He asked, holding the water bottle up.

"Yeah. And I just drank it." Zoe said, almost gagging again at the thought.

A look of disgust grew over Cory's face. "You drank… how did.. how did a water bottle full of blood end up in here?"

"I have no idea." Zoe said, grabbing the bottle from Cory when he was close enough.

Actually, she did have a small idea. The only person heartless enough was A. But Cory didn't know about A yet, but Zoe had a feeling he would find out pretty soon.

She looked at the bottle. It looked normal.

Maybe the message was on the inside. Zoe began to unscrew the cap again.

"What are you doing?" Cory asked frantically. Zoe didn't blame him. He had no idea what was going on.

"I have to see if A did this." Zoe said, pulling the cap off. She honestly didn't care anymore.

"A?"

"Long story." Zoe said as she looked at the inside of the cap.

Bingo.

 _Be more careful, Zoe, or next time, it'll be your blood in the bottle._

 _-A_

Zoe screwed the cap back on and angrily slammed the bottle down on the nightstand next to her.

"Okay, I know that a lot is going on for you right now, but you should know that I'm clueless and extremely worried about you, so if you could explain to me what the hell just happened, that would be great." Cory said angrily.

Zoe rubbed her face. She knew she had to tell him, but she didn't want to tell him like this.

"Zoe!" He said a lot more sternly.

Zoe lifted her head up and stared at Cory with tearful eyes. He had tears in his eyes too.

"We're being stalked." Zoe said, she then looked down and started to pick at her fingernails.

"It's been going on for about five months now. We've been getting these anonymous texts by this unknown person who goes by the letter A. It started out as just texts, but then out of nowhere A turned violent. They started to attack us and give us bigger threats. They threaten everyone I love and I'm sick of them. They caused the crash and they just tricked me into drinking blood and I've had enough!" Zoe said. She said the last part angrily.

Cory had an unreadable expression on his face. It was a mix between anger, fear, curiosity and confusion.

He was silent.

A few tears rolled down Zoe's face when he said nothing. What was he thinking?

"Say something!" Zoe said, slamming her hands down on her bed.

Cory quickly walked to Zoe's side and kissed her. It was a soft kiss, one that stained her lips and Zoe could feel it even when they're lips disconnected.

He looked at Zoe with a sad look. "I am so sorry for making you tell me that."

Zoe laughed. "Well, I'm sorry that you kissed my lips that probably taste like a mixture of blood and vomit." She said jokingly.

"Zoe, I'm serious. This is huge. So much shit has gone down in your life but yet, you're still alive and kicking." He said.

Zoe gestured to her leg. "Not anymore."

He grabbed Zoe's hand. "Stop fooling around, this is serious."

"I'm just trying to get the idea of A out of my head." Zoe said, looking into Cory's eyes.

"Zoe, look around." Cory said, outstretching his arms. "You're in a hospital. A put you here."

"No, Anna's bad driving did." Zoe felt guilty for saying that.

"You said a minuet ago that A caused you to crash." Cory said, catching Zoe's slip up.

Zoe grunted and threw her head back. "Yeah, okay. A rigged the GPS on Kara's phone and it caused us to drive towards the woods and it wouldn't shut up and Anna and Kara got into a heated argument and then it said 'turn left, bitch' and that caused confusion and more arguments and then we crashed. So yeah, I guess A had a little bit to do with it." Zoe took a deep breath after her rant.

"A had everything to do with it!" Cory said in a loud tone. "If they would have left Kara's GPS alone, Anna and Kara wouldn't have argued about the directions because you would have gone to the right place. If you wouldn't have argued, then you wouldn't've crashed." He pointed out.

Zoe looked down at her cast as a tear fell off her cheek. "Okay, maybe you're right. But please, can you stay out of it?"

"Stay out of it? This person almost killed you and your friends!"

"I know, but this person is obviously dangerous and they could just as easily hurt you. Just let us find out some more information. When we know enough of their weaknesses, then you can help out." Zoe pleaded.

"But what if-" He was interrupted by the door opening.

They both looked at the door. It was Zoe's parents and a female doctor.

"Cory, can we talk to Zoe alone?" The doctor asked.

Cory and Zoe made eye contact. She knew right away that something was wrong.

"Yeah, sure." He said, heading for the door. Before he left, he looked back at Zoe again. He mouthed the words 'good luck' to Zoe. She nodded her head slightly to show her appreciation

When the door closed, Emily and Alison walked to Zoe's beside. They both sat down and took on of Zoe's hands.

Zoe turned to Alison. "Do you know what's going on?"

She shook her head. "The doctor wanted to tell us all together."

Zoe's palms grew sweaty and she started to shake. Both parents noticed because they both squeezed Zoe's hands at almost the same time.

The doctor took off Zoe's X-ray of her legs and pulled up a new one. This time it was her whole body.

"I'm getting to get right to it." The doctor began. "You see this crack?" She said, pointing to the obvious crack going across Zoe's leg. Both Emily and Alison said, "Yes." While Zoe's nodded her head nervously.

"This part will heal." She said, pointing at the large crack. "But this part," She said, pulling up a close up of the crack leading up to Zoe's spine. She hadn't seen that before. Looking at the crack made Zoe's back ache even more.

She pointed at the crack. "The pressure from the crack in your leg caused the breakage to expand." The doctor said as she dragged her finger across Zoe's leg and into the spine to where it ended.

Zoe felt a tear roll down her face. She looked at her parents. You could tell that they were trying there hardest not to cry.

The doctor looked at the three girls. A sad look grew on her face as she turned back to the X-rays.

"The crack broke the right side of your thigh bone, Zoe. The thigh bone is what supports movement." The doctor said sadly.

Zoe knew where this was going. She looked down, unable to look at the X-rays even longer.

"The breakage is one of the worst ones the hospital has seen. Normally, the bone can mend itself but in your case, we're not so sure that yours can. If it does, it will take a while. A rough estimate is four to five years and that's only if your bones are strong enough to heal." The doctor said.

Zoe looked up as buckets of tears rolled from her face. "So she won't be able to move her right leg ever again?" Emily said in a shaky voice.

The doctor put a small smile on her face. "The bone didn't crack deep enough for no movement at all. You will be able to bend you kneecaps slightly. You'll be able to go up steps but it will take a lot longer. And you'll need help."

"What kind of help?" Alison asked.

"If you want to be able to walk by yourself, you'll need these." The doctor grabbed a file and handed it to Zoe. She opened it.

Inside were pictured of metal leg braces. They were big, hunky pieces of metal that you attach at the ankle and went all the way up to just below the hip. A little joint connected the two pieces together so it could bend. They were ugly.

Zoe closed the file and shoved it away. Alison grabbed it and looked at it. She sent a sad look over to Zoe and Emily.

"Is this necessary?" Alison asked, handing the file over to Emily.

"If Zoe wants to walk again, yes." The doctor said. She pointed to the files that Emily was holding. "Those are just a few models available. I could give you more options if you don't like any of them."

Zoe grabbed the file from Emily and opened it. She picked a black one that didn't look as ugly as the others. "No, no. Just…I'll take that one." Zoe said. She didn't want to stare at any more leg braces.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked. "You're going to have to wear it for a long time, you might as well-"

"I want that one! Please just take the pictures away!" Zoe said, her voice cracking.

Alison grabbed the files away from Zoe and set them aside.

"I'll order that one right away. Any pressure to your right leg will be painful so when your leg heals up we'll get some pain medicine prescribed and in a few months we'll start physical therapy with the brace on. Until then, you'll have to be in a wheel chair or use crutches." The doctor said.

Zoe wiped her face free of tears, but more started to leak down her face. "Do we have to make this decision right now?" Zoe said in a shaky voice.

"Of course not. I'll leave you all alone to talk." The doctor said, grabbing the files and walking out the door.

As soon as the doctor left, a sob escaped Zoe's throat. She felt Emily's hands around her and Zoe leaned into her mother's chest. She cried as Emily held her and Alison rubbed her back.

"It's okay, calm down." Emily and Alison said as they comforted Zoe.

Zoe allowed her parents to comfort her, but she knew the problem wouldn't be fixed.

Zoe would not be able to walk.

She shut her eyes and tried to calm down. She would get stronger from this.

The first step is revenge.

A would pay.

* * *

Kara wasn't in the hospital for very long.

As soon as Kara was in the hospital bed, she passed out from exhaustion. She woke up the next morning with stiches in her forehead and a walking boot for Kara's right ankle. She apparently sprained it in the crash.

They released Kara as soon as they were done explaining what the doctors did to her.

"What about Anna and Zoe? Are they okay?" Kara had asked.

"They haven't woken up yet." The doctor had replied.

It's been six hours since Kara was released and she still had no idea if Anna and Zoe were okay.

Kara sat in the hospital waiting room with her parents.

"Are you sure you don't want to go home?" Her dad asked.

"I'm staying." Kara said, looking at her dad. She stared at the scar on his forehead.

Kara turned away and put her hand to the thirty three stiches that were sewn into Kara's forehead. She too will have a scar there, just like her father.

"Kara, you need to get some sleep. You were in a fatal car accident and-" Hanna was interrupted.

"Exactly. It was Fatal. I had the amazing opportunity to walk out of it with a few stiches and a sprained ankle and I was in the backseat. The safest part of the car. Anna and Zoe were in the front and it scares me knowing that they still haven't woken up and that the doctors are telling me no information about them." Kara said, her voice shaking.

Hanna rubbed circles into her daughters back. "We know. We completely understand. It's just that you should get some rest, for your own health."

Hanna had a point. Kara was lucky for having little injuries, and her eyelids could barely stay open, but she couldn't just leave.

"I can't just leave." Kara said, repeating her thought.

Hanna and Caleb looked at each other. After a few seconds of staring, they turned back to Kara and hugged her. "Don't do anything stupid." Caleb said.

Kara's expression changed from sad to confused. "Wait, you're letting me stay?"

"We understand that this is an extremely difficult time for you and your friends and you all need each other." Hanna began. "I know how terrifying these things are and I'm not going to force you to feel isolated."

Kara smiled and hugged her parents again. "Thank you so much."

"Anything for you, honey." Hanna said.

"Are you staying?" Kara asked when the three broke apart.

"For a few more hours. We have to work in the afternoon tomorrow so we can't be up to late." Caleb said.

Kara nodded her head. She understood. Hopefully Zoe and Anna would be awake by then.

Another ten minutes went by until something happened.

Kara saw Dylan walk out from the hallway that Anna's room was in. Kara got up without a word to her parents and waddled over to Dylan.

He had his hands on his face and he was pacing back and forth.

"Any news?" Kara said suddenly.

He jumped a little. He must not have seen Kara. "No." He said depressingly.

"Are you serious? Do you at least know if she's awake?" Kara asked.

"I'm pretty sure she's still asleep. Her parents and Brandon are in other waiting room. They would be in her room if she was awake."

"Do they known anything?" Kara asked.

"You would think. But I don't want to bother them. I'm sure it's tough enough for them right now."

Kara nodded her head. Kara didn't want to speak to Anna's parents until she knew that Anna was okay. If anything bad happens to her, Kara wouldn't be able to go on and live a normal life.

"So I'm guessing you don't know anything on Zoe either." Kara said.

Dylan sat down in an empty seat. Kara proceeded to sit down in one next to him.

He put his head down and said, "No."

Kara slouched back. She took a shaky breath in and out. She felt her eyes tear up. She didn't even bother trying to hold the tears in. She was comfortable around Dylan. She trusted him.

He noticed she was crying.

His face overcame with sadness. "Kara…" He said, leaning back in his chair so he was face to face with her.

"Why did this have to happen?" Kara said in-between sobs.

"Why does anything happen?" He said, still giving Kara that sad look.

"Don't go all motivational speaker on me." Kara said, laughing at him.

He laughed to. It quickly faded away.

"I just want them to wake up." Kara said once it got silent.

"They'll wake up." Dylan said, looking straight ahead.

"How can you be for sure?" Kara said kind of rudely.

"You're all fighters. You've all been through too much to just give up now."

Kara stared at the side of his face. "That doesn't guarantee that they'll wake up."

He turned to her. "You woke up."

Kara stared blankly at Dylan. "I was lucky."

Dylan turned back to the hallway. "Don't overthink it, Kara. They were perfectly fine when I found them in the woods; nothing is just going to randomly happen overnight."

Kara turned to the hallway too. "I guess."

Just then, Kara saw Brendon walk by Anna's door. He stopped and listened at the door.

"What is he doing?" Dylan asked. He was staring at Brandon too.

"I don't know. Maybe there is some noise in her room, which means that she has to be awake." Kara pointed out.

"Should we go ask him what he's hearing?" Dylan asked.

"No. Give him some time. This is his sister that were talking about, let's not put more pressure on him."

Kara tried to get a good look at Brandon's facial expressions. Where they happy? Sad? She couldn't tell.

After what felt like forever, Brendon finally walked away from the door.

Kara tried her best to stay quiet, but her curiosity took over.

"Brendon?" She said when he walked by. He stopped and turned to Kara and Dylan.

"What?" He said in an almost angry tone.

That wasn't a good sign.

"Did you hear anything about Anna?" Dylan asked.

Brendon stared at Dylan and Kara as if he was questioning whether he should tell them or not. Finally he said,

"Yeah, I know a few things."

Kara's heart skipped a beat. "Can you tell us what you know?"

He looked at Kara and Dylan again and took a deep breath in and out.

"She's awake." He said.

Those two words changed Kara's mood. She now was smiling. She looked over at Dylan and she saw that the look of worry on his face disappeared.

"But somethings wrong." Brendon slowly added.

Kara's smile dropped immediately.

"What's wrong?" Dylan said hesitantly.

Good thing he asked, Kara was too scared to.

Brendon shook his head. "I don't know. They haven't told me much, but when I was walking by her door… I heard screaming."

Kara felt like she had been shot. "Screaming?"

Brendon nodded.

"Maybe it wasn't her." Dylan said, looking at Kara.

"I know what her screams sound like. Months of her waking up from nightmares yelling can confirm it." Brendon said.

Kara rubbed her face. She avoided the stiches. "Why would she be screaming?" Kara said to no one in particular.

After a while, Dylan said, "Do you think it's from pain?"

Kara didn't say anything. If she opened her mouth she would cry. She just sat down in the chair.

"Why is she screaming?" Dylan asked Brendon.

"I don't know. I only heard it." Brendon said. You could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Come on, Brendon, you have to know!" Dylan said desperately.

"I don't!" Brendon said angrily.

"Then find out!"

Kara quickly stood up and stepped in-between Brendon and Dylan.

"Thank you, Brendon, you've helped a lot." Kara said, turning to Brendon. "Please, tell us if you learn anything else."

He nodded and said, "Sure." He then turned and walked back down the long hallway.

Kara then turned around angrily. "What the hell Dylan!"

"What did I do?!" He said angrily.

"You can't pressure the poor kid. He doesn't know anything else so leave it alone. He's hurting just as much as you! Anna is his sister! Respect that!" Kara said, wanting to slap him.

Dylan took a deep breath in. "I just want to know what's wrong."

"We'll find out eventually." Kara said. Her head was starting to throb.

Dylan sat down again and put his head down.

Kara stared at him and then stared back at the waiting room. She scanned it for her parents. She found them in the same place as she left them.

She began to walk back to them.

"Where are you going?" Dylan asked.

"To get some aspirin." Kara said, waddling away with her walking boot.

He said nothing as she slowly walked away.

She put her hand to her stitches. It felt like it was throbbing.

She put her hand down and continued to walk down the never-ending hallway.

* * *

Anna shot her eyes open and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling.

She shot up from the bed and quickly regretted it. Her vison started to spin and she felt like she was going to pass out.

She looked around the room once she regained herself. She was in a hospital.

Why was she in the hospital? She looked around and saw the 'call nurse' button. She pressed it repeatedly.

Not even a minuet passed until a doctor rushed in.

"I called for a nurse." Anna said, staring at him up and down.

He smiled. "That's a good sign, you still have a sense a humor after what happened.

Anna shook her head. "And what exactly did happen?"

The doctor's smile faded almost immediately and his face dropped. "You don't know what happened?"

Anna thought for a long time, trying to remember what she was doing before she woke up in the hospital, but it only made her head hurt, so she stopped.

"No." She answered.

The doctor then rubbed his face.

"So the whiplash did do damage." He said to himself.

"Whiplash?" Anna questioned.

He turned to Anna. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Anna's bed.

"Anna, you and your friends were in a car crash. A bad one." He began.

Anna's mind blew up. She was in a car crash. "What?"

"You were driving near the woods and something spooked you so you drove into a tree." He continued.

Anna shook her head. She couldn't recall any of this.

"Your friend Kara woke up first, then she woke up you, and then you helped Zoe."

Anna stared at the doctor cluelessly.

"You do remember who Zoe and Kara are, right?"

"Of course I remember them, how could I forget?" Anna said defensively. "I also know that our other friend Rose has been missing for a while now."

The doctor nodded. "Good. What else do you know?"

Anna said the basics. "My name is Anna Cavanaugh, my parents are Spencer and Toby Cavanaugh, my brother's name is Brendon, I'm a junior at Rosewood High School…" She went on and said a few more things. One thing Anna did not mention was A.

"So you know everything except the car crash." The doctor stated.

"I guess."

He was silent for a while.

"Okay, can you tell me what's wrong?" Anna said, growing inpatient. She was freaking out enough from her not knowing something as important as a car crash and her head was pounding and the doctor just sitting there doing nothing was not helping.

He stood up. "Let me go get your parents?"

"Are you going to get my brother?" Anna asked as he was walking out the door.

"I think its best if we leave him out of it for a while. Having him in here might be a bit too much for you." He said, walking out.

Anna sat alone in her dark room. She looked around and her heart started to race. She didn't want to be alone in the dark. Being alone in the dark brought back memories and hallucinations.

Anna pulled her knees to her chest and rocked back in forth as tears rolled down her face.

This whole car crash thing was freaking her out. Why couldn't she remember it? And were Zoe and Kara okay?

After a few minutes of silently crying, the door flung open. The light blinded Anna, but she knew who it was.

"Anna?"

It was her mom's voice.

"Mom?" Anna said back.

The silhouette of her mother rushed to Anna's bed side and wrapped their arms around Anna. She wrapped her arms around her mom as she quickly felt another pair of hands on her.

Anna turned her head around and saw it was her dad. She wrapped one hand around her mom and one around her dad.

The doctor gave them a few minutes.

In those minuets there were a lot of "I love you", "You're okay", "Thank god" and a few other things.

When the family calmed down, the doctor began to talk.

"Are you ready to begin?"

All three Cavanaughs turned to the doctor who was standing at the foot of Anna's bed.

Spencer wiped her face free of tears. "Yeah, go ahead."

"The good news is that Anna has no physical damage except the long cut from the glass shard, which is now stitched up, and few other cuts and bruises." He said, smiling.

Anna looked down at her arm. She just now realized that a cut as long as a pencil was stitched up.

"That's great!" Toby said, squeezing Anna's hand.

"You said good news." Spencer pointed out. "What's the bad?"

The doctor stared at Anna. "There are some internal injuries."

Anna's parents stared at Anna with concerned faces.

"I can't remember the crash." Anna said for the doctor.

The Cavanaugh parents had sad faces.

"You can't?" Toby asked.

Anna shook her head.

Spencer grabbed Anna's free hand and turned to the doctor. "So she was a concussion?"

The doctor nodded. "A severe one. We'll have to run some tests, but I'm pretty sure it was from the whiplash. From what we know, Anna was awake in the woods. She was the one who called Dylan and informed him about the crash, so she knew about it then."

Anna listened with great interest. She was the one who got a hold of help?

"So what I'm thinking is that the whiplash took affect when Anna passed out in the car on the way to the hospital." The doctor finished.

"But why would I forget just the car crash?" Anna asked.

"Your brain wanted to forget the most traumatizing thing so when the memory loss started to happened, it attacked the memory of the car crash." Spencer answered.

"That's exactly what I think happened." The doctor said to Spencer.

Anna turned to her mom shocked. "Then how come I didn't forget about A?" She whispered. She didn't want the doctor to hear.

"Because the most traumatizing thing at the moment was the crash." Spencer whispered back.

The doctor was staring at the girls. He opened his mouth about to ask about it, but Toby jumped to the rescue.

"Will she be able to get the memory back?" Toby asked. He turned and winked at Anna and Spencer.

"There's nothing the medical staff can do to bring it back." The doctor said sadly.

Anna got back on track as she felt her heart drop. She _needed_ to remember something as big as this.

"Well, what can I do to get it back?" Anna asked.

"You'll have to do some brain exercises. You might have to go back to the crash site, or even by looking at somebody who was there with you could bring the memory back. But if you try too hard, it could result in more memory loss, so you have to be careful." The doctor said.

Anna rubbed her face. "Okay." She said from behind her hands.

Anna felt a hand on her back. It was big and thick so it was probably her fathers.

"What do you want to do?" Toby asked.

"I want to sleep." Anna said without thinking.

"Sleep?" The doctor asked.

Anna lifted her head up. "Yes, sleep. I'm tired so can I please be left alone."

She tried not to sound rude but she couldn't help it.

Spencer turned to the doctor. "Will her sleeping cause any more memory loss?"

"It shouldn't." The doctor said.

"Shouldn't?" Toby questioned.

"The brain is a very mysterious thing. Nobody knows exactly what it can do." The doctor said.

"Well, right now my brain is bleeding and I just want to sleep, so can you please leave." Anna begged. Her eyes began watering.

Anna's parents nodded her head. "Of course." Spencer said.

"Just call for a nurse when you wake back up." The doctor said, pointing to the 'call nurse' button that Anna had pressed forever ago.

Anna nodded her head. "Okay, I will."

The doctor sent a warm smile that Anna's body rejected.

He then held the door open as Spencer and Toby walked out.

"Good night, Anna." Spencer said.

"We love you, honey." Toby said.

And then the doctor and the two Cavanaughs walked out the door and left Anna alone in the dark once again.

Anna stared at the wall, trying to remember the car crash. Nothing came to her.

Any more thinking would kill Anna, so she stopped.

She grabbed a pillow and put it over her mouth. She then screamed extremely loudly. The pillow barley covered up the noise. Anna wouldn't be surprised if someone outside in the hallway heard.

She then put the pillow back down and plopped down on the bed.

She stared at the ceiling and tears poured down her face.

She fell asleep in a puddle of her own tears.

* * *

 **AN: I'M SORRY THAT THIS IS UP SO LATE!**

 **My week was crazy and extremely eventful and it was hard to find time to write and I also had to deal with some writers block so I'm sorry if this chapter sucks!**

 **Anyways, please forgive me and give me some ideas! I might use them and if I do, I'll give credits!**

 **Thanks!  
-Jessica**


	27. The Return

**AN: HELLOOO**

 **I have a winner for the name contest! The winner is….**

 **Noah!**

 **Congratulations Momentsofhappiness101, you will see your winning name pretty soon!**

 **Tigerlily74 followed and favorited! Thanks!**

 **And blurgghhh followed!**

 **Thank you both!**

 **I also want to dedicate this chapter to Leapyearbaby29, it was their birthday a few days ago and I thought I would do something special! : )**

 **Alright, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PLL.**

* * *

Zoe sat down in her wheelchair and looked out the window.

Yes, she chose the wheelchair.

She was released yesterday afternoon. It has been three days since the accident.

Zoe looked down at the few signatures on her cast. They made her angry.

A majority of them said, "get better soon!" "I love you!" and many other stupid things.

The signatures made Zoe feel weak. She didn't need to be told to "get better soon" It would take years for Zoe to get better. All she wanted to do was rip the cast off her leg and give up.

She missed walking, she wanted nothing more than to stand up and take two steps. She wanted to be able to go to the bathroom by herself, and she wanted to be able to bathe by herself.

All of that was annoying, but the thing that pushed Zoe past the limit was when people treated Zoe like she was a delicate porcelain doll.

People are always asking if Zoe's okay, or if she needs anything. Or when she reaches for something, somebody saying "oh, let me get that." And grabbing it.

Like, no can you not.

Several times Zoe had to yell at her mother's for doing that. Yeah, Zoe knows that they are only trying to help their daughter who is damned to a wheelchair, but them constantly helping with everything made Zoe feel weak.

The only people who seemed to realize right away that Zoe hated to be treated like a baby was Kara, Anna and Dylan.

How is Zoe supposed to gather the emotional strength to fight off the mental torture that A throws at her if everything is done for her? This stupid wheelchair is Zoe's kryptonite.

And it's only the beginning.

"Okay, explain it one more time?" Anna said from behind Zoe.

Zoe grabbed the wheels to her wheelchair and zipped around to look at the group of people gathered in her living room.

"I'm not explaining it again." Zoe said, wheeling towards the crowd.

"Please, maybe one more time of hearing it will help me remember the accident." Anna pleaded.

"We've explained it ten times, Anna, an eleventh won't change it." Kara said from her chair.

Anna paced around the room. "Why can't I remember?" She said to herself.

Zoe looked at Dylan, who was also in the room. When he looked back at Zoe, she nodded at Anna, signaling to go comfort his girlfriend.

He nodded back to Zoe and stood up. "Come on, Anna, stop thinking about it." He said, putting his hands on Anna's shoulders.

"No!" She said, shrugging his hands off her shoulders. "This whole forgetting thing is driving me crazy!" She said, throwing her hands in the air.

"And its torture for me to watch you pace around." Kara said.

Anna gave Kara a dirty look. Kara gave one right back to Anna.

"Can you guys stop? We all have our own problems." Zoe said.

Anna and Kara looked at Zoe.

"Your right." Anna said, sitting down next to Dylan. He held her hand.

Zoe looked at their two hands. She was actually happy that Cory wasn't here right now. He was almost as bad as Zoe's parents when it came to treating Zoe like a baby.

It was extremely silent.

"I wish Rose was here." Kara said, breaking the silence.

"We all do." Zoe said, looking at Kara.

It's been almost a full week of her being gone and Zoe was starting to worry. What if A did do something to Rose?

Zoe shook her head and cleared her head from the thought. Rose was tough, she wouldn't let A do anything to her.

"What do you guys think she's doing right now?" Anna asked.

"Who knows. Hopefully trying to get back to us." Zoe answered.

"I just wish Rose would knock on the door and walk in and everything would go back to being normal." Zoe said.

She missed her voice and her strength. If Rose was here, all the worry would leave Zoe's body.

The doorbell rang.

Zoe shot her head to the door. "That did not just happen." She said.

"I'll get it." Kara said, getting up and walking to the door.

Zoe was still as Kara walked to the door. She knew it wouldn't be Rose, but Zoe couldn't help but wish that it would be.

Kara opened the door slowly.

"Who is it?" Dylan asked.

Kara threw the door open and stepped aside. "Nobody."

Zoe outstretched her neck and looked. The doorway was empty.

"Did someone seriously ding-dong ditch us?" Zoe said, wheeling over to Kara.

Kara looked down. "Wait."

Zoe stopped and watched as Kara crouched down. She picked something up.

"What is it?" Anna asked before Zoe could open her mouth.

Kara sighed and handed the little object to Zoe.

She grabbed it and looked at the object in her hand.

It was a red, scratched up miniature car.

Zoe turned the thing over. On the trunk of the car, there was a bumper sticker. It was small, but Zoe could read it.

"Caution, Bitches on board." Zoe said, she looked up at the group in front of her.

"-A."

You could see everybody's faces drop.

The door to the other room opened. "Hey, who was at the-" Emily was interrupted by Zoe.

"Ugh!" Zoe sounded as she threw the car across the room. She didn't even know that the parents were walking into the room.

They all watched as the car flew across the room. It made a loud noise as it crashed onto the floor.

"Zoe, be careful, you'll strain your spine even more!" Emily scolded.

Zoe turned to her mom angrily. "Next thing I throw will be at you."

Emily and Alison looked shocked.

Zoe turned back to Anna, Kara and Dylan.

Kara looked like she was holding back a laugh. That made Zoe smirk.

The parents began to file into the room. Zoe was surprised to see Mr. and Mrs. Fitz walk into the living room.

Zoe gave a look to Anna and Kara. They seemed to be wondering the same thing.

Once everyone was settled in, Caleb dove right in.

"I uncovered the files from the flash drive." He said.

Everyone's faces seemed to light up, but not Zoe's. She could care less about A right now. Yes, A was still a threat but Zoe was more focused on finding Rose at the moment.

"I'm assuming that all the original videos that were on there to begin with are back again, but we won't know for sure because we don't have…" Caleb trailed off.

He was going to say Rose. It was her that supplied the flash drive.

It was awkwardly silent.

"You can say her name, Caleb." Aria said. Her voice was scratchy.

Caleb nodded slightly. "I can't confirm that the videos are the same without Rose." He said slowly.

After he said that, the room grew silent.

It was so weird without Rose here. It almost felt wrong that everyone was discussing A business without her.

"Has Cory found any clues to where she is?" Someone asked.

Zoe woke up from her daze and looked up. Everyone was looking at her and Zoe had no idea who spoke. She couldn't even identify the gender.

Zoe shook her head. "No. He's out looking right now." Zoe said to the floor.

Cory was the only hope Zoe had on finding Rose. If she was out there hiding, Cory could find her. He knew all the hiding spots in Rosewood.

"Where is he looking now?" Kara said.

"The back of town. There's less people there so it would be easier for her to bled in." Zoe said, playing with her hair.

She shot her eyes over to Mr. and Mrs. Fitz. You could tell they were struggling. Zoe had to think of something to change the subject.

"How do we know he is even looking in the right place?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, didn't you say you saw Rose in the woods the night you crashed, Zoe?" Alison added.

Zoe opened her mouth about to answer but Ezra beat her to it.

"Zoe saw Rose in the woods?" He said with hope in his voice.

"Did you see her at the same time you crashed?" Aria asked, holding Ezra's hand.

"I think I did." Zoe said lifting her shoulders up.

"You said in the hospital that you knew for sure you saw her." Emily reminded Zoe.

Zoe shot a glare at her mother. She wanted them to shut up so badly.

"You two have known about this since the hospital?" Aria asked with anger in her voice. She was glaring at Emily and Alison.

"Don't look at us like that, Aria, we tried to tell you!" Emily said, defending her and Alison.

"We tried to find you and Ezra but you two were nowhere to be found." Alison said calmly.

Zoe shot her eyes back to the Fitz's. It was there turn to speak.

They wouldn't say anything.

"Aria?" Mrs. Cavanaugh said.

Zoe looked at Aria. She had tears forming in her eyes.

"Aria, where were you?" Hanna asked.

It seemed like everyone was deep into the argument now.

"Leave her alone, guys." Toby said from behind his wife.

Zoe looked at him now.

"Excuse me, why are you defending her?" Spencer asked sharply.

"Because she and Ezra were with me." He replied.

Zoe scrunched up her eyebrows. She had no idea that this conversation would turn to this.

"Why were they with you?" Hanna asked from across the room.

"Because we think we found some of Rose's stuff in the woods a few days ago." Toby said.

Zoe's stomach did a backflip.

"You found her stuff?" Zoe asked quietly. She was scared to talk.

"We think we did." Toby said, staring right at Zoe.

"What did you find?" Zoe asked.

"A bag filled with bottled water, bags of food, and a rose necklace." Aria said, staring into space.

Yup. That was Rose.

"We should go." Aria said after a while. She looked up at Ezra. "Mike and Mona are here with their son and we promised that we would take them out for dinner." She said standing up.

"But we haven't dug into what I found on the flash drive yet." Caleb said, staring at Aria and Ezra.

"Tell us another time." Ezra said, patting Caleb on the shoulder.

Caleb looked disappointed and everyone watched as the Fitz's left the house.

It was quiet again.

"I found a lot of files with videos of both Zoe, Kara, Anna and Rose and Spencer, Hanna, Aria, Emily and Alison." Caleb said to nobody.

"Our videos are on there too?" Emily asked.

Caleb nodded his head. "A really did there research."

Zoe reached down and released the brakes on her wheelchair and began to back up.

"Where are you going?" Alison asked when she noticed Zoe move.

"My room." Zoe said while she turned her head around. "My head hurts and I just want to take a break."

"But we need to-" Emily began.

"I already know everything about A. I've told you a thousand times what's happened and repeating it isn't going to change anything." Zoe said.

It was silent so Zoe continued to wheel to her new room. They had to move it to the den on the bottom floor so Zoe didn't have to go upstairs.

Zoe closed the door and wheeled next to her bed. She struggled as she lifted herself out of the chair and onto the bed. As she did this, she felt the strain on her back.

She gave up and plopped down back into her wheelchair.

She put her head in her hands and rubbed her forehead. Her head was pounding.

She took a deep breath in and out. She put her hands on the bed and shoved herself on it. Her arms were shaking as she tried to throw her leg over and onto the bed.

It hurt as Zoe tried to move it. Tears escaped her eyes and she grit her teeth and released a small sound from her mouth as a result of pain.

When she finally made it onto the bed, she was face down. She grunted and pushed herself over. It took a few tries but she did it.

Zoe looked down at her cast. Zoe griped her hand around it. She wanted to rip it off so badly.

Zoe put her head down on her pillow and looked at the ceiling. Her arms were shaking, her leg ached and her head was throbbing.

Zoe closed her eyes and tried to not focus on the pain. When she did this, she thought of Rose and when Zoe tried to get Rose out of her head, she thought of A and that made Zoe's head throb even more.

So, Zoe focused on her breaths. After ten minutes of doing this, Zoe fell asleep.

* * *

Zoe woke up to a loud thunk. She shot her eyes open and slowly sat up. She looked at her bedside table. It was almost midnight. She also noticed that one of her mothers put her medicine and a glass of water on her nightstand.

Zoe hated taking her medicine. It was supposed to be helping her leg but it only made Zoe's head hurt even more. But Zoe wanted her leg to heal so she swallowed the dumb pill.

She finished the glass of water and was about to go back to bed when she heard another thunk.

It was coming from outside her window. Zoe looked at it. The blinds were closed so Zoe didn't know what was causing it.

Zoe debated if she should get up and see what it is, but then she looked at the wheelchair and the idea made Zoe want to puke.

She laid back down and closed her eyes. She was about to fall asleep again as another noise came from the window. This time it sounded like knocking.

Knocking. As in a human fist was taping on the window.

Zoe sat up again and looked at the window as the sound came again.

She ripped her blanket off and lowered herself into her wheelchair.

She undid the brake and slowly wheeled to the window. When she got there, the knock came again.

Zoe put her hand on the curtain, ready to rip it open. She prayed it was just a branch or something tapping on the window, but Zoe's mind kept straying to the darker parts.

Zoe grabbed the window and her heart was pounding. She counted to three and threw the curtain back.

She gasped.

Sitting outside her window was Rose.

Zoe almost fell backwards from shock. Seeing Rose felt like seeing a ghost.

Rose smiled from the other side and pointed at the window.

"Can I come in?" She said.

Her voice sounded different. It was more raspy.

Zoe nodded her head and fumbled with the lock on the window. She had to pause and wipe her face of tears a few times.

When she finally got it open she flung the window up and launched at Rose.

Zoe didn't get very far, but she got far enough to wrap her arms around Rose.

She cried onto Rose's shoulder and she squeezed Rose and Rose squeezed back.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to come back sooner I just-" Rose began saying to Zoe but she stopped her.

"Shut up and get in." Zoe said shakily.

Zoe wheeled herself away from the window and allowed Rose to climb in. She looked surprisingly clean for living outside for the past week.

When Rose got in the room, she sat on Zoe's bed.

Zoe watched Rose in disbelief. It was hard to believe that Rose was actually here.

Rose wrapped her arms around herself and looked at Zoe. She took a deep breath.

Zoe stared at Rose. "Have you seen your parents yet?" It was a stupid thing to say right away but it was also an important thing.

Rose shook her head. "No."

"You need to see them" Zoe said.

"I know, I'm just scared to talk to them alone." Rose said.

Zoe nodded her head. She understood. This was a hard thing to do.

"Can you call Kara and Anna?" Rose asked.

Zoe nodded her head and reached for her phone. She started a group chat with Anna and Kara.

She typed the words she's wanted to type forever.

 **Come over. Rose is back.**

 **-Zoe**

* * *

Zoe put her phone down and looked at Rose. She still had tears in her eyes.

"Did you send it?" Rose asked. She was eager to see Kara and Anna.

Zoe nodded her head and set her phone down on her nightstand.

Rose scanned her up and down. Her eyes stopped at Zoe's cast.

"Can I sign it?" Rose asked, still looking at the cast.

"What?" Zoe asked. It sounded as if she was in disbelief.

"Can I sign your cast?" Rose asked again.

"Yeah… sure." Zoe said. She sounded out of it.

Rose got up and slowly approached Zoe. When she got there, Rose bent down to where she was level with Zoe.

"Can I have a marker?" Rose asked.

Zoe reached behind her and grabbed a marker from her desk.

Rose took it and stared at Zoe. She wouldn't make eye contact. There was something Zoe wasn't telling her.

Rose looked down and uncapped the marker. Rose looked for an open spot. As she scanned, she saw lots of signatures. She saw Anna's, Kara's and even Rose's parents had signed.

Rose stared at it.

 _Get better soon!_

 _-Mr. and Mrs. Fitz_

She couldn't wait to see them. But like she told Zoe, she was also scared.

Rose found a spot between Kara's signature and Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh.

As Rose was signing her name, she felt Zoe's eyes on her.

"You can ask me what's on your mind." Rose said, looking down at the cast still.

Right away, Zoe asked, "Was that you in the road?"

Rose finished the signature and looked up. She opened her mouth to confirm that it was her, but the door flung open.

Rose cringed and prayed that it wasn't Zoe's parents. Then Rose heard the gasps and then the sobs shortly after.

First one to run into Rose's arms was Kara. Rose could barely process it. She only knew it was Kara first because Anna was standing looking confused in the doorway.

Rose then focused on Kara again. She squeezed Kara and closed her eyes. Rose could feel Kara's heart racing inside her chest.

"Close the door, Anna."

Rose heard Zoe say quietly to Anna.

Rose then released Kara and looked at her face. Her face was socked and Rose couldn't help but smile. They worried about her this much?

Rose put her hands on Kara's shoulders and looked at Anna who was still looking confused.

"Anna?" Rose asked. She held her arms open, waiting for Anna to embrace them.

Anna broke from her daze and looked at Rose. Rose waited with her arms open still.

Anna slowly approached Rose, studying her. When she was close enough, Rose saw that her eyes were watering.

"Rose?" She said quietly when Anna was in front of Rose.

Rose nodded her head and Anna finally accepted the hug.

They wrapped their arms around each other and Rose felt Anna's tears fall on her shirt.

They staying like this for a few more seconds until they broke apart.

Rose felt a tear fall down her face as well. She reached up and wiped it off.

"I have like, a million questions." Kara said after she sniffled.

"And I want to answer them, but can we do it somewhere else?" Rose asked.

"Like where?" Anna asked.

"The park?" Rose suggested. "It's almost one in the morning and I doubt a lot of people will be there."

"Okay, but how are we all going to leave?" Zoe asked.

"The window." Rose said, pointing at the still open window.

"I can't get out the window, Rose." Zoe said, pointing at her leg. She still hasn't seen Rose's signature.

Rose looked at Zoe and then the window. "Damn it."

She turned to Anna and Kara. "How did you to get in?"

"I have a key to the front door so we used that." Anna said.

"Then we'll leave through the front door." Rose said, already starting to walk out of Zoe's door.

"Wait." Kara said, grabbing Rose's wrist.

Rose looked at Kara's hand on her and then she looked up at Kara.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Zoe's parents are sleeping on the couch in the living room. We had to sneak past them in order to get to Zoe's room and Zoe's wheelchair will make too loud of a noise to sneak past them." Kara said.

Rose stared at the stiches in Kara's forehead out of habit and looked away.

Rose thought for a second. She turned to Zoe. "Does your wheelchair fold up?"

Zoe looked confused. "Yeah, why?"

"We can fold it up and put it through the window. Then one of us," Rose said, nodding her head to Kara and Anna, "can help support you past your parents and when we get outside, we can get your wheelchair and we can go to the park."

No one spoke. Rose knew why. Her plan was crazy.

"That's crazy." Zoe said.

"I know but it's the only thing I got."

Zoe took a deep breath in and out and looked at Anna and Kara. "Okay, help me up."

Anna then proceeded to prop Zoe up while Kara removed the wheel chair from under Zoe. Anna then half carried and half dragged Zoe to the bed.

"Do you think you can move her?" Rose asked Anna.

"With help." Anna answered.

"Yeah, okay I'll help." Rose said.

Kara finished folding up the wheelchair and drug it over to the window.

"Zoe, are you sure you want to do this?" Kara asked.

Zoe nodded her head. "Yeah. Let's do it."

Kara sighed and lifted the wheelchair up and carefully put it outside Zoe's window. She was careful not to drop it down fast enough to where it would make a loud sound.

"Okay, let's go." Kara said then she turned back around.

Zoe outstretched her arms and Rose grabbed her right arm while Anna grabbed her left.

Kara opened the door and the four girls made their way down the hallway that lead to the living room.

Kara went in front of Anna, Zoe and Rose.

Zoe bounced silently on one leg and put all her weight on Anna and Rose and four made their way through the house.

Kara held out a hand when she saw Zoe's parents on the couch. She turned to the other three girls and put a finger to her mouth and pointed to Emily and Alison.

Rose turned to Zoe and whispered. "Give me your leg."

"What?" Zoe said, whispering also.

"Give me your leg." Rose repeated.

Zoe lifted her leg as much as she could. It was barely two feet of the ground.

Rose turned to Anna. "Hold her shoulders." Rose directed.

Anna nodded and did as she was told. Rose then let go of Zoe's right arm and wrapped her arms around Zoe's thick cast on her right leg and lifted it up.

Anna supported Zoe's upper body while Rose supported her lower body.

"Hurry up!" Kara whispered.

Rose looked at Zoe's parents. Alison was moving around. She was probably waking up.

"What happens if she comes to check on me?" Zoe asked.

Rose thought. "Is there a lock on your door?" She asked.

"Yeah." Zoe answered.

Rose turned to Kara. "Kara, go in Zoe's room and lock the door. Go out through the window and bring the wheelchair to the front."

Kara looked at Rose and seemed confused.

"Now!" Rose whispered sharply.

Kara nodded and walked quickly to Zoe's room.

"What will locking the door do?" Anna asked.

"They'll think I'm sleeping and not want to bother me because I don't get that much sleep now a days." Zoe answered for Rose.

That's exactly what Rose was thinking.

"Exactly. Now hurry up." Rose said, getting a better grip on Zoe's foot.

The three then rushed to the door and made little noise. Rose then slowly put Zoe's leg down and opened the door silently. There was a little squeak sound but it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone up.

Kara was outside with the wheelchair waiting. She ran up the porch to help with Zoe. Kara took Rose's place so Rose could go lock the door.

They finally got Zoe in her wheelchair and Rose ran off the porch and joined the other three.

Rose grabbed the back of Zoe's wheelchair and began to push her towards the park. It wasn't that far from Zoe's house.

Halfway there, Kara asked. "How are you so good at sneaking around?"

"I've had a lot of practice." Rose answered.

She really didn't. She only snuck into Rosewood once and she was caught by Derek.

When they finally made it to the park, Rose, Kara and Anna sat on a park bench while Zoe sat in front of them in her wheelchair.

Rose could barely see all their faces since only one streetlamp was near them.

It was silent until Rose finally said, "So what do you want to know?"

"Everything." Zoe answered.

"Why did you run away?" Anna asked.

Rose took a deep breath as she remembered the moment she ran away.

"I was at the brew talking to Owen about you, Kara," Rose began, nodding her head at Kara. She continued, "I was going off on him not to hurt you and that it sucks having your heart broken and then I slowly started to talk about myself and then I realized how screwed up of a relationship I was in with Zak."

All three girl's eyes were on Rose. She continued her story.

"I started having a panic attack and all I could think about was Zak and I wanted to get away from it so I ran and ran until I ended up in the woods."

Again, nobody said anything yet.

"I saw A in the woods and I thought it was just another hallucination and I got angry and punched a tree and ripped my knuckle open." Rose laughed at herself as she stared at her knuckle. The cut was almost healed.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

Rose laughed again. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

It was silent so Rose continued.

"I kept walking until I got to the hill that overlooked Rosewood. When I got there I texted Anna about not looking for me. I was only planning on staying there overnight but when I was over there, I forget about Zak and there was no way for A to reach me."

"You didn't get any A texts?" Anna asked.

Rose shook her head. "None. I thought I finally found a place where A couldn't reach me."

Rose paused as she thought of her hill. She was so glad she finally left.

"Three days past and my phone died. Plus, I was starving. So I snuck into town. I tried to sneak to my house without getting noticed but…" Rose stopped as she thought of Derek.

"But what?" Kara asked.

"Some little boy, probably eight, stopped me." Rose said smiling. She missed that kid.

"Did he recognize you?" Zoe asked.

"No, he's not from Rosewood. But he wanted to know why I was so dirty. I came up with an excuse and he offered to get his parents and help me but I kept making excuses and I finally got away from him. He was extremely kind but I was terrified that he would realize that I was mysterious dirty girl and some girl was missing. I was worried if he would put two and two together."

"Then what did you do?" Zoe asked.

"I made it to my house and snuck into the back yard. I climbed the big tree back there and tried to get into my room from the window, but it was locked."

"But you never lock your window." Kara reminded.

"That's why I was freaking out. I looked at the window harder and saw a note." Rose said.

"A note?" Anna asked.

"When I saw it I knew exactly who it was from." Rose said.

"What did it say?" Kara asked.

"Stay gone or your family gets it." Rose said. "A." She finished.

All three girls looked at Rose with hurt looks.

"A threatened your family?" Zoe asked.

"I was going to come back sooner but I got scared from that note." Rose said, crossing her arms. She was cold.

"I ripped the note up and tried to sneak back to my hill but the kid, Derek, caught me again."

The girls stared at Rose, still showing interest in her story.

"He offered me Cheeze-its. I took them after refusing a few times. He told me how his parents were fighting and he wanted me to walk him home, but I couldn't. I wanted to but I couldn't." Rose said. She was still angry at herself for not doing so.

"I made it back to my cliff and began to eat my cheeze-its on the edge of the cliff." Rose said. "Then someone behind me spoke and I got scared and fell off."

"You fell of?!" All three girls said at the same time.

Rose put her hand up. "I fell off but I grabbed onto a tree root before I fell too far."

Relief grew over Anna, Kara and Zoe's faces.

"Who was behind you?" Kara asked.

"Zak." Rose answered.

"Zak?" Kara said with a disgusted face.

"I thought the same thing." Rose said. "He tried to help me up but I honestly was going to let go and fall. I didn't want to deal with him. I let him help me up but I had to drop my cheeze-its and I was extremely angry at him so I tried to hit him in the head with a rock."

"Rose!" All of them said at the same time.

"Look, I was starving and I had to drop my only food source!" Rose said in her defense.

"That doesn't mean you should kill him!" Kara said.

"I wasn't going to kill him, okay. I didn't know what I was going to do; I was just trying to send a message." Rose said.

The girls just gave Rose questioning looks.

"After my rock attack failed he calmed me down and gave me food and water. I then gathered enough courage to ask him about the A thing. He surprisingly opened up to me and told me _everything_ he did."

"What did he do?" Zoe asked, curiously.

Rose turned to Zoe. "It was him who saved you from Daniel in the woods. He then brought you home and changed you and helped you go to bed."

Zoe had a look of shock on her face. "Zak saved me?"

Rose nodded her head. She turned to Kara. "He said something about the night you were locked into Anna's shed."

Kara looked intrigued. "What did he say?"

"You said you saw two A's, right?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." Kara answered.

"Zak said he was the one in the road. He was waving at you trying to get your attention. He was hoping that you would chase him down so he could lead you away from the other A but you wouldn't move. He then tried to get you out of the shed but Zoe, Anna, Dylan and I thought he was trying to lock you up so we beat Zak up." Rose explained.

Kara looked confused. "He was trying to help me?"

Rose, again, nodded.

"He did set up all the cameras though. But when he found out that I knew about them, he didn't hesitate to help take them down." Rose explained.

She continued, "It was Zak's job to kill Mr. Rivers."

"Zak hurt my dad!" Kara said, standing up.

"No, Kara sit down." Rose said.

Kara listened and sat down.

"He was supposed to. He refused so the other A got angry and beat up your dad." Rose said to Kara.

"So Zak never really hurt us?" Anna asked.

"Nope." Rose answered.

"Wow." Zoe said under her breath.

"After that Zak wanted me to go back to his apartment outside of Rosewood to wash up and get some clean clothes." Rose said. She skipped the whole love conversation she and Zak had.

"Did you?" Kara asked.

"I was going to. I was going to go to his apartment and then home after. As we were walking to get to-" Rose was interrupted.

"Was it you in the road?" Zoe asked.

Rose opened her mouth to say yes, but someone else answered for her.

"Yes." Anna said.

"How would you know, you lost your memory of the crash?" Kara said to Anna.

"Because the doctors told me that I could regain my memory as easily as looking at someone who was there. As soon as I saw Rose I remembered. So Rose had to have been the girl in the road." Anna answered.

"Glad I helped on getting your memory back." Rose said to Anna with a smile.

"So it was you." Zoe said.

"Yeah, it was. I was in a daze and had no idea that I was in the middle of the road. I snapped back to focus when I saw car speeding towards me."

The girls were silent.

"I watched you guys crash." Rose said, remembering the night. "It was my fault." She said, her voice cracking.

"It was not your fault at all, Rose! It was A's fault. We were arguing and then A popped up on my GPS which made it worse and then we saw you and since we were so out of focus we went out of control and hit the tree." Kara said.

"A messed with your GPS?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, the asshole caused us to crash, not you." Kara said.

Rose took a deep breath in and out. "Ok, so I went to the car and saw that all three of you looked okay, so Zak and I got you out." Rose said.

"So that's how we ended up so far in the woods." Anna said in disbelief.

Rose nodded. "I saw how damaged you all were and I wanted to help but I was scared. When Kara started to wake up, I asked Zak to watch you. I hid like a coward while you struggled." Rose said. She was starting to realize how stupid she was in the situation. She felt tears forming in her eyes.

"That was Zak in the woods?" Anna asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh god, I chased him and told him I was going to kill him." Anna said, sounding ashamed.

Rose laughed. "I know, I heard."

"I then saw Dylan's car driving you all to the hospital and I knew you were all going to be okay."

"What have you been doing these past three days after?" Zoe asked.

"I had Zak spy on you guys in the hospital and told me all your conditions." Rose said. "I was scared and hearing what happened to all of you killed me, but I knew that none of you were going to die or anything, so I started to think of a way to come home." She admitted.

"When Zak told me all of you were released, I knew it was time." Rose said.

"We were released yesterday." Kara said.

"Okay, it's hard to just come back. I still had the threat A put on my family on my mind." Rose said to Kara.

Kara looked away.

"I went to Zak's apartment and cleaned up and he bought me clothes and then he drove and then the next day he brought me here." Rose said. "It took me all day to muster up the courage to see anyone."

"I was walking to my house when fear over took my body. I ran back to Zoe's house and began knocking on her window." Rose said looking over to Zoe.

Zoe smiled.

"It took a million years for her to answer." Rose said sarcastically.

"It was midnight and someone mysteriously knocking on your window is creepy!" Zoe said in her defense.

"I doesn't matter. I got in eventually and that leads us to now." Rose said, finishing her story.

"And now you need our help on seeing you parents." Anna said.

Rose nodded. "Can we go now? I really miss them."

Anna and Kara stood up. Zoe outstretched her hand from her wheelchair.

"Let's go." She said.

Rose grabbed Zoe's hand and the four began walking to Rose's house.

Rose was shaking badly. She was terrified.

"Don't be scared." Zoe said. She must have noticed Rose shaking.

Rose took a deep breath and tried her best to stop shaking.

Rose stopped mid step when they stood in front of her house. Last time she was here, she was climbing the tree in her backyard.

"Go ahead." Kara said. "We'll be right here if you need us."

Rose looked at them and then at her house. She slowly walked up to her house. Every step sent a shock through her body.

After what felt like forever, Rose stood in front of her front door.

She extended her hand. It was shaking again.

She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

* * *

 **AN: ROSE IS BACK!**

 **Again, I'm sorry that this chapter is up late, I was going to post it yesterday, but my mom was in the hospital last night so I was busy worrying about her and visiting her and stuff. She's back now so it's okay!**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-Jessica**


	28. Secrets

**AN: I want to start off by welcoming CM6SHIELD6PLL6 and Aria. m. writing!**

 **They both followed and favorited so thank you!**

 **I don't have much else to say other than enjoy!**

* * *

Kara waited in the street with Zoe and Anna.

Rose had just rang the doorbell and all the girls were anxiously waiting for something to happen.

After what felt like an eternity, Kara watched as the door to the Fit's household opened.

Kara watched from the distance. She could see that it was Mr. Fitz who opened the door. She saw as his face changed from sleepy, to confused, to happy, to sad, back to confused and then back to happy again.

Kara couldn't see Rose's face, but she was sure that she was experiencing the same thing.

Ezra then proceeded to smile and cry and reach out and hug his daughter. He was screaming for his wife to come downstairs, but it was hard to understand him, his words were muffled out by sobs.

Kara adjusted her body so she could get a better look.

"Kara, stay back. Let them have their moment." Anna said when Kara scooted a little closer.

"I just want to see." Kara said, not turning her head away from the reunited family.

Kara heard more sobs come. Aria reacted before Kara could even see her, so she didn't get to see her face.

But Kara saw Aria run out of the door way and into the arms of Rose and Ezra. They all seemed to be crying and a few words were also spoken, but Kara couldn't make out any of them.

Kara watched the family huddled together into a little ball.

Kara could watch them for hours. There was nothing more beautiful than the love shared between family.

Kara felt a tear run down her face. She reached up and wiped it.

She then felt a tap at her side. She looked down and saw it was Zoe tapping her.

"We should go." She said.

Kara looked back at Rose and her parents one more time and then looked back at Zoe. "Yeah, okay."

After seeing this reunion, Kara wanted nothing more than to be with her parents.

"But Rose wants us here for support." Anna said.

Kara turned to Anna. "Look at her." She said, pointing at Rose. "She is exactly where she is supposed to be and with the people she's supposed to be with."

Anna looked over at Rose and her family. Kara watched Anna's face. She was unable to detect the emotion.

Anna looked back at Kara after a few seconds.

"Let's go." Anna said, turning away from Zoe and Kara.

Kara smirked as she turned around and grabbed the back of Zoe's wheelchair. It was silent, with only the sound of the Fitz's excitement, as the three girls made their way back to Zoe's house.

Zoe's house was the same as how they left it. The window was still open.

Kara looked down at Zoe.

"Do you think you'll be able to climb in there?" Kara asked.

Zoe chuckled and looked up at Kara. "No."

"We'll carry you in." Anna said from behind Kara and Zoe.

Without discussing a plan, Kara climbed in the window and looked around. It looked the same as before, and Kara noticed that the door was still locked.

Kara turned back to the window and stuck her head out.

"Okay, hand her to me." Kara said to Anna.

"I have a name." Zoe said sarcastically.

Kara looked at Zoe and faked smiled. "I know."

Zoe lifted her arms up. "Okay, lift me up." She directed to Anna.

Anna grabbed under her arms and lifted Zoe up. You could see the struggle in Anna's face. Yes, Zoe was light, but her cast doubled Zoe's weight.

Kara reached out the window and tried to help Anna. Kara grabbed Zoe's waist and help direct it to the edge of the windowsill.

When Zoe was successfully sitting on the windowsill with her legs facing the outside, Anna stared at Zoe.

"You could have at least tried to help." Anna said to her angrily.

"Okay, I did try. It's hard to move around with an anchor weighing you down." Zoe replied.

"Okay, it doesn't matter!" Kara said sharply. "Zoe, try to turn around. Anna, fold up the wheelchair." Kara instructed.

Zoe managed to get her good leg over the side of the window and half her body turned in the time it took Anna to fold the wheelchair.

Kara watched Zoe as she did this. You could see how hard Zoe was trying. There was sweat on her forehead. It almost looked like Zoe was in pain.

Kara reached her hand out to help Zoe get her other leg in the window, but Zoe stopped her.

"I can do it by myself." Zoe said, shooing away Kara's hand.

Kara put her hand back. She knew how Zoe hated receiving help, but when Zoe made no progress, Kara reached out again.

"Kara, I can-" Zoe began to say.

"Shut up and let me help you." Kara said, grabbing onto Zoe's leg.

Zoe remained quiet while Kara carefully lifted Zoe's broken leg over the window and into the room.

Zoe scooted over and allowed Anna to put the wheelchair through the window. Kara the opened it and placed it below Zoe.

Kara helped Zoe get in it by supporting her arms and Anna helped lower Zoe's body slowly into the chair. Anna then climbed in the window.

"Thanks." Zoe said half-heartedly. She meant it, but you could tell that she hated saying it. It would really boost Zoe's self-esteem if she could do these things by herself.

"Your welcome." Kara said back. She then nodded to the bed.

"Need help getting in that?" Kara asked.

Zoe nodded her head. "No, I can do it."

"You sure?" Anna asked.

"Yes, I do it all the time." Zoe said wheeling to the side of the bed.

Kara once again watched as Zoe used her upper body strength to get herself onto the bed.

After three tries, Anna stepped forwards. Zoe looked at Anna as if to say "back off" but she didn't. Zoe stopped trying and allowed Anna to lift her into the bed.

Kara smiled. Hopefully Zoe would start getting use to the fact that she did need some help.

When Zoe was successfully on the bed, Kara asked, "You good now?"

Zoe nodded her head. "Yeah. Thanks guys."

Kara nodded. Anna did too.

Kara looked at the window and then at Anna. "After you." Kara said.

Anna rolled her eyes playfully and walked towards the window.

Kara flicked the light off for Zoe and then proceeded to walk to the window and climb out.

Once out, Kara jogged and caught up with Anna.

"Hey, wait up!" Kara said as she jogged towards her.

Anna kept walking.

When Kara finally caught up she grabbed Anna shoulder and stopped her.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Kara asked as she looked into the face of a emotionless Anna.

"I'm just thinking." Anna answered dully. She tried walking again, but Kara stepped in her way.

"What are you thinking?" Kara asked.

"Stupid stuff." Anna said, stepping past Kara.

Kara looked at Anna as she walked off. "There is no such thing as 'stupid stuff' anymore." Kara called. "Life's to full of danger now for there to be stupid stuff." Kara said.

She noticed that Anna was in a deep daze, and when that happens, she's thinking hard about something.

Anna turned around and looked at Kara. "What?" She asked.

Yeah, what Kara said was confusing, but still it was important.

"What are you thinking about, Anna?" Kara asked again.

Anna lifted her shoulders. "It's nothing important, okay! I'm just really tired and want to go to bed." Anna said in her defense.

Kara gave Anna a 'I don't believe you' look, and kept walking.

When Kara passed Anna, she kept her head up high. "Then let's get you to bed." Kara said when she passed Anna.

Kara kept walking forwards and she heard Anna's footsteps behind her. Kara would ask what Anna was thinking again another time.

The two girls reached the end of the street and they both stopped.

To the left was Kara's house, and to the right was Anna's.

Kara turned to Anna. "I'll see you in the morning." Kara said.

"See you in the morning." Anna replied.

There was a moment of silence between the two and Kara took that opportunity to quickly sneak in and hug Anna.

Anna was tense at first but quickly loosened up and hugged Kara back.

When they broke apart, Anna said, "What was that for?"

Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know where I would be in life if I didn't have you and the others and sometimes I need to acknowledge it."

"Kara you would be perfectly fine if something ever happened to any of us." Anna said.

Kara shook her head. "No. None of us would be the same without everybody else. We're all like a puzzle. If one piece is missing, the overall picture is incomplete and useless. We rely on each other and that's why we were all so mixed up when Rose was gone." Kara spilled.

Anna looked shocked. "We weren't mixed up when Rose was gone."

Kara raised he eyebrows. "With her here tonight we were able to sneak into Zoe's house, got Zoe's wheelchair through the window, carry her out the front door past her parents and get away with it. Plus, we were able to get her back in." Kara said. "When Rose was gone we couldn't focus and we couldn't even drive a car correctly." Kara finished, pointing to the stiches on her forehead.

Anna chuckled and tilted her head a little bit. "Good point."

Kara laughed and held her arms open one more time. Anna accepted Kara's hug.

When they released, Kara said, "Goodnight." And started to walk backwards towards her house.

Anna smiled and did the same. She walked backwards towards her house and faced Kara.

"Sleep tight." Anna said sarcastically.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite." Kara said, finishing the rhyme.

Anna laughed and turned around and Kara did the same.

Kara walked the short distance to her house. She turned her head towards the direction that Anna was walking. She was just a little spec in the distance.

Kara turned back to face her house. She reached in her back pocket and fingered around until she found her key.

Kara grabbed it and pushed it into the lock to her front door. It clicked and Kara turned to doorknob. She pushed the door open and it made a loud squeaky sound.

Kara stopped opening the door immediately and shut her eyes. She put her ear to the little crack in the door and listened for any movement on the inside. When she heard nothing she slowly opened the door. Kara never remembered the door being this squeaky, but then again, it was dead silent and Kara was trying to be silent so everything just naturally sounded louder.

When the door was wide enough for Kara to slip in, she did so and quietly closed and locked the door.

Kara turned around and began to tiptoe to the stairs. Halfway up the stairs, Kara heard her mom cough.

Kara pinched her eyes closed tight and prayed that her mom wouldn't wake up and bust her.

Now at a slower pace, Kara began to tiptoe up the stairs again.

With Kara now being at the top of the stairs, she stared down the long hallway. To get to her bedroom, Kara had to pass her parent's bedroom.

She began tiptoeing once again along the hallway. She was extremely quiet. As Kara passed her parents room, she noticed that their bedroom door was cracked open.

Kara put her eye to the crack and stared inside. The moonlight lit the room slightly and Kara saw her parents sound asleep.

Kara brought her head back and looked back to her room.

She took one step forwards and stopped. Kara looked back at her parent's room again.

Kara then remembered Rose and her parents hugging and crying. As she thought of this, Kara felt a longing for her parents, so without second guessing it, Kara opened her parent's door.

She looked at the bed. Her dad on the left and her mom on the right. A small gap separated them.

Kara then slowly crawled onto the bed and scooted her way in-between them. The bed shook a lot while Kara did this, but her parents seemed to be in a deep sleep so she didn't think that they would wake up from that.

Kara lay down on her side and faced her dad. He was facing Kara and she stared deeply into his face.

Kara tried to point out all the features she got from her dad. She definitely got his nose. And even though his eyes were closed, Kara knew that she had his eye color. And soon, Kara would have the same scar.

Kara continued to stare at her father. She noticed his sleep pattern. One deep breath in and then a short, hard breath out.

She started to count his breathing and when she got to twenty something, Kara began drifting off into a deep sleep.

Seconds before she drifted off, Kara felt an arm wrap around her body. She recognized it immediately as her mother.

Hanna wrapped her arm around Kara and then grabbed Kara's hand and squeezed. This let Kara know that her mom recognized that it was Kara she was holding onto.

The whole grabbing of the hand and squeezing was a thing Hanna did to Kara since she was a kid.

Kara would always have nightmares so she constantly slept with her mother and father.

Hanna would say, "Nothing is going to hurt you if you're in my arms." And then wrap her arm around Kara's little body and grip her hand. And every once in a while, Hanna would squeeze Kara's hand to let her know that Hanna had her, and Kara would squeeze back to let her mother know that she was okay.

Kara felt the warmth of her mother's hand and smiled.

Kara immediately squeezed back and feel asleep.

* * *

Kara woke up to an empty bed and the sunlight in her face.

She shielded the sun from her eyes and stretched. Kara looked at the clock. It was almost noon. When she noticed this, Kara shot up from the bed. She despised sleeping in past ten.

Kara ripped the crumpled up sheets off her body and stood up. She looked at herself in the mirror.

Her shoes were still on. She had crawled into bed and didn't even bother to take her shoes off.

Kara scratched her head and yawned. She turned to the closed door.

Her parents knew that Kara hated sleeping in this late so why didn't they wake her up? They usually do.

Kara walked to the door and before she even opened it she knew why.

She heard muffled yelling.

Kara opened it a little and listened.

"Why wouldn't you tell me about this?" She heard Caleb say in an angry tone.

"I didn't feel like it was important!" Hanna responded.

"Not important? Hanna, that's as important as it can get!" He yelled back.

It was silent for a while. Kara wondered what they were arguing about. They barley argued so when they do, it's serious.

Kara _hated_ when they fought.

"The thing that hurts me the most is that you relied on Kara other than me." She heard Caleb say.

Now Kara was extremely interested. She was part of the reason why they were fighting.

She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Kara guessed that they were in the kitchen so she sat at the top of the stairs where she wasn't visible.

"You weren't home." Hanna said in a depressing voice.

"She is a kid and you are an adult. She shouldn't have to go through that." Caleb said even more angrily.

"I volunteered but she insisted!" Hanna said back, also with anger in her voice.

"I know, okay. You still should have told me. I would want to know if you had a suspicion." He said more calmly.

Kara replayed the last few sentences over again in her head. She had a suspicion on what they might be arguing about.

"I'll tell you next time." Hanna said quietly.

"There won't be a next time." Caleb said back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanna asked. You could hear the hurt in her voice.

Kara perked up and listened some more.

"I mean we won't be stupid enough to not be careful." Caleb responded.

Kara heard her mother release a big breath. Kara also released a breath.

It was silent once again. Kara wondered what they were doing.

Kara calmed down a little and was a little less tense.

"Oh crap!" Kara heard her mother say rather loudly.

The outburst made Kara jump.

"What?" Caleb said with concern.

"It's almost twelve; we forgot to wake Kara up!" Kara heard her mother say. She then heard movement.

Kara smiled to herself and remained in place. It wasn't worth getting up and pretending to be asleep.

Kara heard the footsteps get louder as her mother approached.

When Hanna turned the corner and saw Kara sitting at the top of the stairs, confusion grew over her face.

"How much of that did you hear?" Kara's mother asked with embarrassment in her voice.

"Enough." Kara responded.

Hanna sighed as she made her way up the stairs. She stopped and sat next to Kara on the top stair.

Kara turned and looked at her mom. "Was that about the pregnancy test?"

Hanna turned at looked at her daughter. "Yeah." She said.

"How did he find out?" Kara asked.

"He found it out this morning when he was looking over the footage from the flash drive."

"I forgot about those stupid cameras." Kara said, looking down.

"Yeah me to." Hanna said, she chuckled.

Kara looked back up at her mother and noticed that there were tears in her eyes.

Kara grew confused. "Mom?"

Hanna looked down as the first tear fell from her eye.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Kara asked.

"I'm ashamed." Hanna answered.

Still confused, Kara asked, "Why?"

"I should have told him about that stupid test right away." Hanna said. "I was scared he would leave or something."

Kara laughed really hard. "Why would he leave?"

"I don't know it's just something I wonder about." Mrs. Rivers replied.

"You and dad have been through so much together, a little fight now and then won't change anything. You can't erase the past, there is no way he would forget about it. And you lying about something shouldn't affect it either." Kara said.

"But this was a big lie." Hanna said, sniffling.

"Oh, come on, you're not perfect. And I'm sure lying isn't new in your relationship." Kara said.

Hanna chuckled. "Your right."

"So you have nothing to worry about." Kara said, reaching for her mother's hand.

Kara grabbed it and Hanna accepted it.

Hanna wiped her stray tears away.

Kara watched her mother and squeezed her mom's hand.

Hanna looked back at her daughter as she squeezed back.

Kara smiled and leaned into her mother.

"I love you so much, mom." Kara said.

"I love you too." Hanna said.

Kara closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of her mother's body and the constant beat of Hanna's heart thumping on Kara's back.

* * *

Anna walked up to her front porch.

She left the door unlocked when she left so she went straight to the door handle.

She opened the door slowly and silently. She walked into the house making no noise at all.

Anna closed the door and turned the lock, again making no noise.

Anna turned to the dark, quiet house. She could barely see. She outstretched her arms and began feeling around, praying that she would make no loud noises.

Anna would have used the flash on her phone, but it was missing. Anna passed out when she got in the car with Dylan and woke up phoneless.

Anna continued to wonder aimlessly around her house. She went to turn down the hallway that led to the stairs but Anna misjudged the distance of the hallway, so when she turned to face the stairs, she hit the wall.

Anna shot back quickly and grunted. All these noises she made were rather loud, so Anna rubbed her forehead and listened for noise. She heard none.

She released the breath she was holding and ran her hand along the wall until it ended and the stairs began.

Anna made her way up the stairs extremely slowly. Her parent's bedroom was right at the top of the stairs and they always kept their door open, so even the little noise could wake them up.

Anna managed to make it to the top of the stairs making no noise. She put her hand to the wall again and began to walk. Her room was the first door on the left.

Anna felt the door and reached for the handle, but before she could do so, a bright light blinded her.

Anna shielded her eyes and looked at the silhouetted figure.

"What are you doing?" Brendon asked

Anna put her hand down and put a finger to her lip. "Shh." She said.

She walked across the hall and pushed Brendon into his room. Anna got one last look at her parent's room to see if they were awake.

The little light from Brendon's room gave Anna enough light to see that both her parents were both fast asleep.

Anna then walked into her brother's room and closed the door.

"Could you be any louder?" Anna said, annoyed that her brother spoke.

"Where were you?" He asked.

Anna crossed her arms and looked away. "Out." She answered. For some reason, she didn't want to talk about Rose.

Anna watched as Brendon got up and walked towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked, blocking the door.

"I'm going to go wake up mom and dad and tell them you snuck out." He said matter-of-factly.

Anna grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back. "No!" She said kind of loudly.

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked. "You obviously snuck out."

Anna stared at him. "Remember when I talked to mom and dad about your dyslexia. They were mad at me and I knew they would talk down to me but I did it anyway because you were scared."

Brendon stared at Anna.

"Well, I'm scared right now, okay, Brendon. So do me a favor and shut your mouth." Anna said sharply.

Brendon gave Anna a displeasing look and sat down on his bed.

"Could you please just tell me what you were doing?" Brendon asked.

Anna took a deep breath out and grabbed the chair from Brendon's desk. She dragged it next to Brendon's bed and sat in it.

"Where you with Dylan?" He asked.

Anna smiled, she was about to answer when Brendon opened his mouth again.

"Please tell me you weren't with Dylan."

Anna scrunched her eyebrows. "You don't like Dylan?" Anna never even remotely thought that Brendon wouldn't approve of him.

Brendon shook his head. "It's not that I don't like him, it's just that if you snuck out to be with him and didn't come back 'til almost one in the morning and your scared for me to tell mom and dad that you snuck out makes me think that you were doing something with him that you shouldn't be doing." He said.

Anna smiled. "I didn't think you cared."

"Of course I care about you. I don't want Dylan to hurt you in anyway and you sneaking out for him isn't good for you right now. Especially with this whole A thing that's going on."

"How do you know about A?" Anna asked. She had never told Brendon about A.

"You and your friends are pretty loud when you're here. And also…" He got up and walked to his sock drawer.

Anna watched him open it and grab something from it. He turned around and handed Anna her phone with a guilty expression.

A brand new, un-cracked screen replaced the broken one. Anna stared up at Brendon.

"You were the one who took it?" She asked in shock.

"I took it to the phone repair shop to get the screen fixed while you were in the hospital and when they gave it back this curiosity took over me and I looked through some of your texts." He admitted.

"Brendon!" Anna whisper/shouted.

"I'm sorry. I was curious and those texts confirmed the suspicion I had on this person stalking you. You, Rose, Kara and Zoe are always talking about this person and I was concerned so I thought I'd take a look and…"

Anna sighed. "Your right, this anonymous person who goes by the letter A has been harassing me, Zoe, Rose and Kara."

"Is that what you were doing? Were you dealing with some A business?" Brendon asked.

"No. Kara, Zoe and I were actually with Rose." Anna admitted.

Brendon's eyes grew wide. "Rose?"

Anna put her hand up and scratched her head. "Yeah, she came back and she wanted to talk to us about why she left, which actually had to do with A."

"Where is she now?" Brendon asked.

"Her house. She's with her parents." Anna answered.

"We need to tell dad. He was part of her case; he would want to know right away." Brendon said, standing up.

Anna reached out and grabbed Brendon's arm.

"No, stop." She said.

He turned around and gave Anna a questioning look.

"Let her have this night with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Fitz will call the police and let them know Rose is back when they are ready."

Brendon looked down at the ground. "Okay." You could hear the disappointment in his voice.

Anna tried to change the topic. "Did you ever get the results back on your Dyslexia?"

He sat back down and looked at Anna. "Yeah. When we were at the hospital for you, they gave me my results back."

"And?" Anna pressured.

"It came back positive." He said rather sadly.

Anna gave Brendon a sad look. "I'm sorry."

He smiled. "I'm kind of happy actually."

Anna continued to stare. She was confused.

"I finally have a reason to why school is so hard for me. Now I won't feel so stupid." He said, answering to the confused face Anna had.

Anna now smiled too. "I'm glad you see this as an answer instead of an obstacle."

"Oh, it's an obstacle, but it's one I can deal with." He said.

Anna smiled and looked at the clock on the bedside table. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that she and Brendon had been talking for almost an hour. The realization made Anna yawn.

"You tired?" Brendon asked as she yawned.

Anna nodded.

"Go to bed. I'm done questioning you. And I won't tell mom and dad where you were." He said.

Anna smiled and hugged her brother.

"Thank you." She said.

He rubbed up and down Anna's back. "Your welcome."

When they broke apart, Anna walked to the door. She turned around before she opened it and said, "Goodnight." To her brother.

"Goodnight." He said back.

Anna opened the door slowly and crept across the hall to her room. When she got there she opened the door quietly and closed it.

She threw her shoes off and flopped into bed. She didn't even bother changing her clothes.

She closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep, but the familiar text tone sounded from her phone.

Anna blindly reached her hand over and reached for her phone. She squinted one eye because of the brightness and stared at the text.

 _ **Goodnight, Bitch.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna groaned and went to delete the message. As she went to delete the text, she saw all the previous texts she got from A. One of them stood out to her:

' _ **Yuo'er mnie now**_

 _ **-A**_

It was hard to read, but it said, 'you're mine now.' And the letters were all mixed together. It was written in a way that a dyslexic person would write it.

Anna shook her head and cleared the thought from her head. Brendon did not have anything to do with A.

Anna turned her phone off and rolled over. She immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Anna woke up in the morning soaked in sweat and out of breath. She sat up and looked around her room, now bright with sunlight.

Anna took deep breaths and tried to think of what her dream was about. She could only remember small bits of it:

Brendon and A.

No. Brendon _as_ A.

For some reason, that stupid text was getting to her head. Anna ripped the blanket off her body and got out of bed. She put on a tank top, shorts and she put her hair in a ponytail. She was still extremely hot.

Anna walked downstairs and found Brendon sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal.

She looked for her mom. Anna's dad was always gone on weekends, but her mom was always home.

"Where's mom?" Anna asked.

Brendon looked up from his cereal bowl and looked at Anna.

"Work." He answered.

"On a weekend?" Anna asked, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard.

"Yeah. She wants to try to get promoted to manager." He said, passing the box of cereal. It was cocoa puffs.

Anna began pouring the cereal into the bowl. "Manager?" Anna questioned.

Brendon nodded his head and took another bite.

Spencer's job was stressful enough. She worked in a big insurance corporate office. Being a manger would be hard for her.

"Won't that be stressful?" Anna asked, grabbing the milk from the fridge.

"Yeah. Plus she would probably have to work on weekends." Brendon said.

Anna poured the milk and grabbed a spoon and sat down across from Brendon.

"Can she handle that?" Anna asked, taking her first bite.

"Mom is a Hastings." Brendon said. Of course he used the classic Hastings line.

"I don't think she'd like it." Anna admitted.

"Oh come on. Mom loves this kind of stuff."

"Yeah, but weekends? Wouldn't she rather be with us?"

Brendon took his last bite and looked at Anna. "Of course. Mom just likes a good challenge."

Anna shook her head. "I don't think she'd like it."

"She wouldn't like it, or you wouldn't like it?" Brendon said in a snooty tone.

Anna stopped the spoon halfway to her mouth and stared at Brendon.

"I would handle it just fine." Anna said loudly.

"Are you sure?" He said mockingly.

"Of course. I'm a Hastings." Anna said, mocking him right back.

He smiled and got up from his seat. He went over to the dishwasher and he put his bowl in it.

Anna then heard her phone buzz. She must have left it over on the counter.

"Who is it from?" Anna asked Brendon. He was right next to it.

"Zoe." He answered.

"What does it say?" Anna asked, taking another bite.

"If you want me to read it, it may take a while." He said, picking up the phone.

Anna extended her hand and Brendon walked towards her and handed her the phone. She had forgotten for a moment that he was dyslexic. And the reminder put the text back on Anna's mind.

Anna looked at the text from Zoe.

 **Do you think we should go check on Rose?**

 **-Zoe**

Anna thought of a quick reply.

 **No let her come to us. Give her some time.**

 **-Anna**

Anna pushed send and put her phone down. She stared at Brendon, who was loading a few dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

She thought about the possibility of him being A.

It was impossible. He had just found out about A.

Unless he was lying.

Anna cleared that thought. He wouldn't lie to her.

She thought about all the A incidents. She tried to think of a time when Brendon was around.

She couldn't think of one. That still doesn't mean he could have anything to do with A.

Her thoughts then went back to the text. A could easily be framing him, or A could have just randomly scrambled the letters. But why would they do that?

Anna continued to stare at him. He turned around and stared at Anna with a questioning look.

"What?" He said after staring back for a few seconds.

"I want to try something." Anna said, coming up with an idea. She got up from her seat and went in a drawer and grabbed some blank pieces of paper and a pen.

She sat back down and patted the seat next to her. Brendon caught on and sat down.

Anna wrote some sentences down on the pieces of paper. She handed the first one to Brandon.

"Write what you see." Anna said handing the paper to Brendon.

He looked at the first sentence which said 'This one is mine.'

He wrote down, 'Tihs oen is mnie.'

"Okay now this." Anna said, giving him another piece of paper that said, 'You're going to love this."

He squinted at the paper.

"Don't try to read it just copy what you see." Anna had to remind him.

Brendon rolled his eyes and copied it down. 'Yuo'er gonig to loev tihs.'

Now nervous, Anna handed the last piece of paper to Brendon.

It said, 'Come here now.'

Brendon quickly copied down, 'Cmoe heer nwo.'

Anna closed her eyes and snatched up the three papers from her brothers hands. She was was a bit angered.

Confused by the sudden movement, Brendon asked, "Okay, what was that for?"

Anna couldn't just flat out say that she suspected he was working for A, so Anna quickly thought up of, "It's for a school project."

Brendon lifted his eyebrows. "A project about me?"

"A project about your dyslexia."

Brendon now seemed a slight bit angry. "Well come get me if you need your little Guinee Pig for another experiment." He then walked up to his room.

Anna felt guilty at first for using him like that, but she needed to see if her theory was correct. She also couldn't tell him that she was testing if Brendon was the psycho hurting her Zoe, Kara and Rose.

Brendon gave Anna a huge clue, and now she was questioning if Brendon might have a small part of the A creep's work.

He wrote down 'Yuo'er, mnie and nwo', just like the A text Anna had gotten the other night.

" _ **Yuo'er mnie now**_

 _ **-A**_ "

Anna looked at his writing. She wished she still had the note Rose had gotten from A. She would be able to see if the handwriting was similar.

Anna took the papers up to her room and tucked them away in a secret spot only she knew of.

Anna then walked back out into the hallway to Brendon's room. She was about to knock on his door to talk to him, but she backed out. She wouldn't ask him about A right away.

Anna would have to keep a close eye on him.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so that was chapter 26.**

 **I hope it held some interest.**

 **Also, I'm going to try to have Brendon in the story more. I realized that I have kinda been leaving him out so I brought him back with a big theory around him.**

 **Remember to review!**

 **See you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	29. A wArm welcome

**AN: HI!**

 **Beaibarra45, Csibooxx, Pllfanatic03, and monsecazaress all favorited! Thank you so much!**

 **Okay, let's begin!**

* * *

Rose watched the smoke rise.

The heat was on her, and it was burning her, but she couldn't move.

She watched the orange flames expand and engulf her surroundings.

Tears rolled down Rose's face as she tried to process what was happening. The gasoline was mushing her brain.

The ashes were burning her eyes, but she didn't dare close them. She wanted to see the last few moments before everything collapsed.

"Rose!" She heard her mother yell.

"Get out!" Ezra yelled.

Rose took a step forwards but the heat knocked her back. She couldn't take more than two steps.

She took a step back and she stumbled. She looked down.

Rose wiped her face of ash and tears and picked up the matchbox.

 _Welcome home, Rose! Here's my warm welcome._

 _-A_

She held the matches in her hand and looked back up at the flames.

"Rose where are you?!"

Rose couldn't tell who that was.

She went to call out but she inhaled all the floating ash and she began to choke.

Rose turned around to face the crumbling wall. A small hole was starting to form from the wall as it caved in on itself.

"Help!" She choked out.

It was useless. Nobody could hear her, but everyone could see the fire. Rose was pretty sure that she saw flashing lights off in the distance. But then again, the gasoline fumes could be messing with her.

Rose looked up and began to see the roof cave in. Rose could either stay where she was and hope that help would come get her, or try and take her chances and find on opening to get out of the area she was in.

She didn't get a choice.

The chunk of the flaming roof disconnected and landed on Rose.

It hit her with a fiery inferno, and she fell to the ground, matchbox still in hand.

* * *

… **10 Hours Earlier…**

It wasn't long after Kara and Hanna had they're talk that both their parents had to leave for work.

Now that Kara was alone, she was extremely bored.

Kara remembered the last time she was home alone and extremely bored.

It was the same day that Kara got her first A text.

When Kara broke into her parent's liquor cabinet and drank so she could forget the thought of her parents forgetting about her.

The next morning, A had set Kara up and filled the room with bottles, which led Hanna and Caleb to believe that Kara had drank all of it.

Kara laughed to herself. She wished her problems were still that small.

Out of curiosity, Kara went down to the basement and walked to the liquor cabinet.

She typed in the code 1-1-0-5 into the padlock.

It buzzed and turned red. Of course her parents changed it.

Kara turned around and proceeded to walk up the stairs. When she made it to the top she looked around.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it disappointed her that nobody was there.

Kara walked to her window and sighed. There was nothing interesting out there either. Not a single animal seemed to be out.

She stared at her car in the rode. She could go for a drive around town.

Kara chuckled and turned away from the window. She wouldn't be driving for a while.

Kara made laps around the house as she wondered what she could do.

She stopped in the kitchen. She looked at the fridge.

"When in doubt, snack it out." She said to herself. She opened the fridge and groaned.

It was empty.

Well, it wasn't empty; it was filled with lots of stuff, but nothing that Kara was in the mood for.

She closed the fridge and put her forehead to the door. She prayed for something good to appear and then she ripped the fridge open again.

Her magic trick didn't work. It was still empty.

She walked out of the kitchen. She wasn't that hungry anyway.

Kara walked back down to the basement. She stared at the liquor cabinet again.

She might as well try to guess the passcode. There was nothing else to do.

It was a four digit numeric passcode. Kara tried the name of her first pet: Puff the hamster.

She typed in 7-8-3-3.

7 for P, 8 for U, and the 3's for the F's.

It buzzed and turned red.

"Dang it." She said to herself. The Rivers loved that hamster.

Kara thought again. She typed in her father's birthday. It buzzed and turned red.

Then she typed in her mothers. It buzzed and turned red.

Kara then typed in her birthday. It buzzed and turned red.

She took a deep breath. What else would they have as they're passcode?

When the idea hit her, she shot her eyes open and punched in the date of their wedding anniversary.

It buzzed and turned red.

Kara tried her hardest not to punch the thing. The repetition of the _buzz…buzz…_ and the red flashing light was getting on Kara's nerves.

She took a deep breath and thought for a long time. She opened her eyes and gave the padlock one last try.

5(K)-2(A)-7(R)-2(A).

She awaited the buzzing and the red light, but she was shocked when the light flashed green.

Kara smiled as she opened the safe. She was honored that her name would be the password.

When the door was fully open, Kara was shocked to see few bottles. She expected a lot more.

She grabbed the nearest bottle. It was a bud-light. She stared at it.

"Put it down, Kara." She said to herself, but she wouldn't put it down.

She continued to eye the glass. She stared at the cap on the top.

Without thinking, Kara ripped the cap off and had the thing halfway to her lips.

She stopped when she caught herself and brought the bottle back down. The smell of the alcohol made its way to Kara's nose. It was a sweet but bitter smell.

Kara wanted to take a sip, but she wouldn't. What if the same thing as the last time happened?

Why was she thinking about this so hard?

Kara has grown a lot since then. Both mentally and psychically. She could handle a sip.

Kara put the drink to her lips and took a sip. Well, it was more of gulp.

The familiar burn came to her throat. She brought the drink down and looked at it. She looked back at the cabinet.

Kara closed the safe and sat down in a chair in her basement. When she sat down, dust flew up around her. The family is rarely down here. The only thing of importance was the liquor cabinet.

Kara coughed at the dust and whooshed it away. She took another sip as she did so.

She looked up the stairs and took another sip. She was almost halfway done with the bottle now.

She looked down at it.

"So much for one sip." She said to herself.

She set the bottle down on the ground.

She went to sit up, but the sound of the lock alarm on the front door blaring through the house forced Kara to sit back down.

Someone was in the house.

She listened for any movement, but she couldn't hear any. That didn't mean that somebody wasn't in her house though.

That was an expensive lock and it wouldn't just go off without a reason.

Kara stared at the open door at the top of the stairs. She watched it.

Out of nowhere, a dark figure shot past the door. Kara wasn't looking hard enough at it to recognize who it was, but it was also east to guess who it most likely was.

Kara ran to the wall and put her back to it. She poked her head around the corner and looked up the stairwell to the house. The figure wasn't there.

She looked at the open bottle she left on the dusty chair. She took one more look up the stairwell and when she didn't see anything, she ran back to the chair and grabbed the bottle.

When she had it, she ran back to the wall and held the bottle tight. She had an idea.

She took another gulp for courage. Her ears rang with the continuous ringing of the alarm.

Kara took this as an opportunity and smashed the bottle against the wall. The glass shattered at Kara's feet and she watched it fall.

The sound of the glass shattering was barely audible, so she knew that she was still in the clear.

She stared at the shard of the glass bottle in her hand. It was a dangerously sharp edge, just like Kara had hoped for.

Kara took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall, making sure to avoid the glass.

To make the situation even better, Kara was barefoot.

She managed to get past the glass on the ground but now, she had to muster the courage to go up the stairs.

She took a deep breath and got off the wall. Kara slowly made her way up the stairs. With the alarm still blaring, Kara was silent.

She used this as an advantage. She could walk up the creaky wooden steps and not make a sound. But this also was a disadvantage, since the intruder could use the alarm to be silent also.

Kara made it to the top of the stairs, bottle tightly in hand. She looked left and right, nobody was around.

Kara slowly made her way to the stairs that lead to Kara and her parent's room on the top floor. She looked up the stairs. It looked the same as it did before she went in the basement.

She took her first step up the stairs. She was shaking, but she had to get rid of A. Hopefully, Kara won't have to use the glass bottle and A would just get scared off by it, but who knows how this could end.

She was about to take another step, but she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Kara yelled and swung around, swinging the bottle with her.

"Whoa, Kara!" The intruder yelled, jumping back and dodging the attack.

Kara immediately started to calm down when she realized it was just Owen. She put a hand to her heart and felt her heart rate slowly start to go down.

"I'm sorry, Owen." Kara said over the alarm.

He said something back, but Kara couldn't understand him.

She held up a finger. "Hold on!" She yelled.

He closed his mouth and allowed Kara to walk by. She walked to the counter and set the broken bottle down.

She walked to the front door and looked at the lock. It was flashing red. Kara hated that.

She quickly typed in H-A-L-E-B and the alarm stopped.

The silence was weird. It made Kara's ears ring.

She turned around and Owen was now in the room.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked with her arms crossed. She was slightly annoyed. Why couldn't he have opened the door like a normal person? He didn't have to break in and cause the alarm to go off.

"I heard you were in an accident." He said sadly.

Kara dropped her arms. That's right. She had never found a way to contact Owen after the crash.

"Yeah, I was." Kara said, taking a few steps forwards. She looked down at her ankle. It still hurt but she didn't have to wear the little brace anymore.

"Ever since I found out I've been trying to get a hold of you." Owen said.

"I've been home for four days." Kara reminded him.

"I know. I found out from my dad and my dad found out from your mom, and I've been trying to talk to you, but it seems that you're ignoring me."

Kara grew confused. "I'm not ignoring you."

"Then how come you haven't answered any of my calls or texts?" Owen asked, sitting on the couch.

Kara smiled. "Owen I don't have my phone anymore." Kara said, sitting down next to him.

"You don't?" He asked, sounding a bit confused.

"No." Kara said. "A sabotaged the GPS on my phone and that partially caused us to crash. My dad took it and blocked all texts from it until he figured out what A did and how to prevent it from ever happening again." She finished.

"Well, that explains that part." Owen said, looking down.

"Part?" Kara questioned.

"Yeah. I've come here so many times, but every time I've asked where you were, your parents said you were somewhere else or sleeping."

"That's exactly what happened." Kara said. "I was somewhere else or sleeping."

"Really? I thought it was something you told your mom and dad to tell me to get rid of me." Owen said, sounding sad again.

"Owen, anytime you want to talk to me, you can." Kara said.

He looked back up at Kara. "I know, it's just I always have this fear that you hate me, so when I can't get a hold of you, it worries me."

"Owen, I've forgiven you for the ignoring me thing for a long time now. You don't need to worry about me hating you." Kara said, looking deeply into Owen's face.

She noticed how worried and tense he looked. Did Kara really mean that much to him?

"So you're okay?" He asked.

"Besides the stitches and the sore ankle, yeah, I'm absolutely perfect." Kara said, smiling.

He smiled back. "Great."

Owen stood up. "I should get going."

Kara scrunched up her eyebrows. "What?"

"I came to see if you were alright. Yeah, I set off the alarm by accident doing so, but I did it so now I'll leave you alone."

Kara reached up and grabbed his hand. "No, stay." She said, tugging at it. She didn't want to be left alone and she really missed him.

He sat back down and looked at Kara.

"Really?"

"Yes, Owen. You need to get this whole 'me hating you and getting annoyed by you' thing out of your head, okay. I miss you." Kara said.

"I missed you too." Owen said.

Kara smiled, and did something she never expected she'd do.

She kissed him.

The idea itself didn't surprise Kara, but she was surprised on how her body took control and kissed him.

Kara melted at the memory of the past time's they're lips touched.

It felt like so long ago.

The kissing began to grow very passionate.

Few words were spoken, between the two, and somehow, Kara ended up with her shirt off.

One thing led to another and Kara found herself having one of the best nights of her life.

Who knew that such a boring day would take such a great and unexpected turn?

* * *

Brendon was ignoring Anna.

Every time she went to talk to him, he would turn the other cheek or just turn away.

His childish behavior was really starting to annoy Anna.

She now stood in front of his door. She knocked.

No reply.

Anna knocked again. "Brendon!" she called out.

He still didn't reply.

She knocked harder. "Brendon, I know you're in there!"

No answer.

She lifter her fist up to begin knocking again, but before her hand could connect with the door, it opened.

"What?" He said angrily.

Anna stared up at him. "Oh, so you're talking to me now?"

"You better spit it out fast before I change my mind." He said angrily.

"Look, I just want to say I'm sorry." Anna said sincerely.

"Is that it?" He asked, looking annoyed.

"Yeah." Anna answered.

"Good." He said, beginning to close the door again.

Anna put her foot out to stop the door from closing. "Wait." She said.

He sighed and opened the door again. "What?"

"Can you say anything else? Like you forgive me?" Anna asked desperately.

"Nope."

Anna took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not going to use your Dyslexia for my project, okay. So if you could forgive me that would be great."

He stared at Anna up and down. "I'll think about it."

"Think about it?" Anna questioned.

"You're lucky I'm even doing that." He said, closing the door again.

This time, Anna let it close.

She slumped back to her room and flopped onto her bed. She grunted and looked at her phone.

No texts.

She grunted again and set it aside.

Anna stared up at the ceiling taking deep breaths in and out.

What could she do to make Brendon forgive her? She needed him to forgive her.

Her head started to pound so she stopped thinking so hard. Maybe this was a sign that Anna should wait it out and allow Brendon to take his time to forgive her.

Yeah, using Brendon's dyslexia against him was a terrible thing to do, but she had to make sure that he couldn't have written that text. Although the results weren't what she wanted, Anna didn't regret doing it. The hate from him sucked, but now she has a clue on A. One she wished she didn't have to think about.

Anna sat up and began to rub her pounding forehead. When the pain began to subside, a loud knock coming from the front door caused the pain to come back again.

Anna was about to stand up to answer the door, but Anna heard Brendon's bedroom door open.

She listened as she heard his footsteps go down the stairs and the sound of the front door opening soon followed.

Anna heard muffled talking, so she got up and quietly opened her bedroom door to listen in.

"What is that?" She heard Brendon ask with no interest in his voice.

"A basket."

Anna recognized the second voice. It was Dylan

"A basket for what?" Brendon questioned.

Anna rolled her eyes.

"A basked for Anna and I to eat from on a picnic." Dylan responded. He was using his forced nice voice. You could tell he was annoyed.

"A picnic?"

"Yes, a picnic." Dylan said. He was dropping his nice voice. "Where's Anna?"

"She's upstairs." She heard Brendon say. "Do you want me to go get her?"

"Yes, please."

Without waiting for Brendon to get her, Anna walked out of her room and casually walked down the stairs.

She saw Brendon by the open door and Dylan holding a basket on the outside.

Anna acted shocked. "Hi, Dylan, what are you doing here?" she asked as she made her way down the stairs.

She walked to Brendon's side and looked at him. Brendon rolled his eyes.

"I'll be in my room." He said, walking away.

Anna turned back to Dylan.

"So you were spying on us?" He stated more than he asked.

Anna tried to hide her smile. "No."

"Yeah you were." Dylan said, slightly smiling.

"Okay, how did you know?" Anna asked in defeat.

"Your voice gets a little bit higher when you're doing something suspicious. It's only a little bit so it's sometimes hard to detect." Dylan said.

Anna dropped her jaw. "My voice does not get high!"

"Yes it does." He said with a smirk.

Anna rolled her eyes playfully and stepped aside, allowing Dylan to come in.

"What's up with Brendon?" Dylan asked when he was inside.

"He's going through some things." Anna said. She figured she shouldn't tell Dylan about Brendon's dyslexia, he would probably get mad.

Dylan nodded his head. "Is he insecure about something?"

"No" Anna said.

"So he is." Dylan said.

"My voice did not get high!" Anna said. She was getting frustrated.

He gave Anna funny look.

"Okay, how did you know he's insecure?" Anna asked.

"He wouldn't make eye contact, which is something you do when you're mad at yourself."

"Do you take notes on everything I do?" Anna asked, both sarcastically and literally. How did he know all these things?

Dylan laughed. "No. I just know you really well."

Anna smiled.

Dylan lifted up the basket he was holding. "Well, I guess you know about the surprise picnic?"

"Yeah, sorry." Anna said, looking at the basket.

"Do you wanna go?" Dylan asked, holding the basket out.

Anna smiled. "Yeah, let me get a jacket."

She ran to the closet and grabbed a jacket. She stopped by the stairs and yelled up. "Brendon, I'm going out! I'll be home in a few hours!"

He grunted in reply. Anna rolled her eyes.

She put the jacket on and turned to Dylan.

"Let's go." She said excitedly as she gave Dylan a quick kiss.

She then opened the door and walked with Dylan out to his car.

They drove the short ride to the park, and while doing so, Anna looked through the basket.

Anna saw something that made her mouth water.

"No way!" She gasped out when she saw it.

Dylan turned his head from the road and looked at Anna. "What?"

"You baked banana bread muffins!" Anna said, looking up at Dylan.

He reached his hand out and closed the lid. "No peeking!" He said strictly.

"How did you know that banana bread muffins are my favorite?" Anna asked, ignoring what he said.

He looked back at the road. "That's what you always get at the brew."

"I didn't know you pay that much attention to me." Anna said. More to herself than to Dylan.

"I can't help it. You're so fascinating." He said happily.

Anna felt her cheeks get hot. She was blushing.

"We're here." He said, pulling into a spot and putting the car in park.

Anna looked out the window. Of course he parked next to their spot.

Dylan grabbed the basket and got out of the car and began to speed walk across the park.

Anna got out and began to chase after him. He finally slowed down when he got to a bench.

"This good?" He asked.

"Yeah, its fine." Anna said, slightly out of breath. She didn't think she'd have to run so she didn't bring her inhaler, so Dylan better stop running.

Anna sat down on the bench and looked up at Dylan. He had a big smile on his face.

"Good." He said, sitting down. "Do you want to know why I chose this bench?"

Anna stared at him with a confused face. "No." She said smiling.

"I was on this bench when I saw you running through the park." He said with a smile on his face.

Anna looked at the bench. "This bench?"

Dylan nodded.

Anna chuckled. "I must have looked like a psychopath."

"You were a cute psychopath."

She smiled and looked down at the basket.

Anna reached down for it. "Can I have the muffins now?"

"Yeah, sure." He said, reaching down quickly, blocking Anna from looking into the basket. He grabbed the container and handed it to Anna.

Anna opened it and took out two muffins. She handed one to Dylan.

"Thanks." He said.

"Welcome." Anna said, taking a bite out of the muffin. It was amazing.

"Oh my god, this is the best thing I have ever eaten in my life!" Anna said after she smiled.

"Thank you." He said, still with the big smile.

Anna stared at him. "Did you make these?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

Anna stared at him in disbelief. "From now own, I'm only getting banana bread muffins from you." Anna said, taking another bite.

"I'd be glad to." He said, still smiling. He then took a bite of his muffin.

He was chewing still with the big smile. He hasn't stopped since they left the house.

Anna finished her muffin and looked at Dylan. "So what are you nervous about?"

He opened his eyes wide and looked at Anna. "I'm not nervous about anything." He said, still smiling.

"Then how come you haven't stopped smiling that goofy smile since we left my house?" Anna said slyly.

"Because I love you and I'm happy to be with you." He said. He dropped his smile for a split second, but then it crept back up on him.

Anna remembered how he didn't want Anna to see anything in the basket. She looked over at it.

"Do you have any bottled water in there?" She said, slowly reaching for it.

He lunged forwards and grabbed it. "Yeah, let me get it for you!"

"So there is something in the basket!" Anna said after he grabbed it.

"What, no there's nothing in-" He started to say nervously.

"Oh, give it up." Anna interrupted. "What's in there that you want me to see?"

Dylan stared at Anna, the smile dropped. "I wanted to surprise you." He said, opening up the basket.

"I get that, but why were you so nervous. You always smile when you're nervous." Anna said, pulling a Dylan and pointing out one of his flaws.

"Because I'm scared you won't like it." He said, taking out a small velvet box.

Anna stared at it. "You got something for me?" She felt her cheeks get hot again.

Dylan nodded and opened the box and handed it to Anna.

She took it gently and stared at the bracelet. Her mouth was hung open.

Inside was a beautiful sliver chain bracelet with a small diamond pendant on it.

She looked up at Dylan and her eyes were starting to water.

"Dylan!" She said with disbelief.

"Do you like it?" He asked with the nervous smile.

"Yes! It's beautiful!" Anna said. She took it out of the box and put it on. She stared at it now on her wrist.

She looked back up at Dylan and kissed him.

When they broke apart, she looked back at the bracelet. Particularly the diamond pendant.

"Is this…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, the diamond's real." He said.

She stared back up at him. "How much was this?"

"It doesn't matter, I just really wanted to get something for you." He said, holding Anna's hand.

Anna smiled and lunged into his arms.

"I love you." She said in his arms.

He wrapped his arms around her body. "I love you too."

Anna squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them, she was surprised to see someone off in the distance.

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked as he let go of Anna. He must have sensed something was wrong.

Anna pointed off to a figure in the street. "Is that Brendon?"

Dylan looked confused and turned around. "I think it is."

Anna got up and began to walk to the figure.

"Where are you going?" Dylan asked, getting up and following her.

"I'm seeing if that's Brendon." Anna answered.

"Why does it matter if that's Brendon?" Dylan asked.

"Because he's my little brother and I need to know what he's doing." Anna answered. That was the partial truth. She had to see if he was doing anything sketchy.

Anna hid behind a tree when she got close. Dylan soon followed.

"That's him." Anna confirmed.

Anna watched as Brendon approached a building. It was old and most likely closed down.

"What is he doing?" Dylan asked.

"I don't know." Anna said, staring Brendon down.

Brendon looked both ways to see if anyone was watching and then he entered the building.

"What building is that?" Anna asked.

"I think it used to be a costume shop." Dylan asked.

Anna stepped away from the tree and began to walk towards the shop.

"Anna, stop!" Dylan said, reaching out and grabbing Anna's wrist.

Anna turned around and looked at him. "What?"

"You can't just barge in there!"

"Well, I can't think of anything else!" Anna said, turning back to the building. She took another step but then she felt her phone buzz.

She took it out and her heart dropped.

 _ **Mom's home! You better get home before I get to her.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna turned to Dylan. "I have to get home." She said frantically.

"Wait, slow down, weren't we just about to go spy on Brendon?" Dylan asked with a confused face.

"A is threating my mom." Anna said quickly.

Dylan's face dropped. "Get in the car."

Anna did so and the two sped to her house.

* * *

Zoe stared down at her cast. She was going over and reading all the signatures.

Her eye's stopped at Rose's.

 _I'm sorry_

 _-Rose_

She ran her finger over it. Rose had nothing to apologize for. As far as Zoe knew, everyone understood why Rose stayed gone.

Rose did write this on her leg before Zoe and the others explained what happened in the car, so Rose could be apologizing for the car crash since she thought it was her fault.

Zoe continued to stare at it.

"You need anything?"

Zoe looked up. She saw Cory standing in the doorway to her room.

"No, I'm fine." Zoe said in a dull tone.

Cory moved from the door and closed it.

"You don't sound fine." He said, making his way to Zoe's bed where she was sitting.

"I'm just thinking." Zoe said when he sat down.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Rose." Zoe answered.

"What about Rose?" Cory questioned.

"I'm just worried about her." Zoe answered.

"Rose is fine." Cory said, putting a hair behind Zoe's ear.

Zoe turned to look at him. "How could you be so sure?"

"Because she has amazing friends like you who do nothing but worry about her when they should be worrying about themselves." He answered.

Zoe sighed. "I guess you're right."

"I am right." He said with a smirk.

Zoe smiled at him and kissed him. He reached his hand out and grabbed the side of Zoe's face, and she reached her hand up and grabbed his while they kissed.

The couple stayed like this for a while, with more passion growing at each new second.

Then the door opened.

"Zoe, it's time for you to-"

Zoe pushed Cory back and looked at Emily standing in the doorway with an embarrassed look. Zoe was embarrassed to. Zoe caught a look at Cory and his face was red with embarrassment also.

"Is this a bad time?" Emily asked, red in the face.

Zoe cleared her throat. "No, its fine. What is it?"

Emily held up the pill bottle. "You have to take your meds."

Zoe extended her hand and Emily walked over and handed a pill to Zoe.

"Call me or your mom if you need anything." Emily said, walking to the door rather quickly.

"I will, thanks." Zoe said.

Emily nodded her head and walked out, closing the door behind her.

When it was closed, Zoe closed her eyes tightly.

"Oh my god." She said under her breath.

"At least she was cool about it." Cory said.

Zoe opened her eyes again and stared at Cory. "She was not cool with it, did you see how red her face was!"

"Yeah, but so was both of ours." Cory pointed out.

"I should have remembered that this was the time I took the pill. I should have told you to cool down." Zoe said, staring at the pill in her hand.

Cory got up and handed Zoe a bottle of water she had on her desk.

"Thanks." Zoe said when he gave her the bottle.

Zoe stared at the bottle to make sure the bottle was actually full of water. Ever since the hospital and the whole blood thing, Zoe has been extra cautious about what she puts in her mouth.

When she came to the conclusion that the water was actually water, she opened the lid and swallowed the pill and the water.

She looked up at Cory, who was studying her.

"What are you thinking about?" Zoe said as she closed the cap.

"I want to do something." He said.

"We can do something, but the options are limited." Zoe said, nodding her head at the cast.

"There's plenty we can do." Cory said, grabbing Zoe's wheelchair and wheeling it over to the bed.

"Like what?" Zoe asked, lowering herself into the wheelchair with Cory's help.

"We can go on a stroll." He said smiling.

"A stroll?" Zoe questioned.

"Yes, a stroll. I can push you around and we can enjoy the beauty of Rosewood." He said with excitement in his voice.

"It'll be hard getting my wheelchair around all those people." Zoe pointed out.

"Not if we go somewhere with not a lot of people." Cory said.

Zoe scrunched her eyebrows. "Where?"

"The woods." Cory answered.

Zoe tilted her head. "A lot of bad things happen in the woods."

"That's because I haven't been there with you." Cory said.

Zoe really didn't want to go in the woods, but Cory seemed so excited to actually go out and do something productive with Zoe and she couldn't shoot him down.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go on a stroll." Zoe said, trying to sound as excited as she could.

He smiled and kissed Zoe on the cheek. "Yes!" He said quietly.

Zoe smiled at his excitement. He then proceeded to push Zoe in her wheelchair out of her room and towards the front door.

Both of Zoe's parents were in the main room so as they passed, Zoe said, "Cory and I are going on a walk."

They turned around and looked at Zoe and Cory. Zoe was expecting Emily to say something about the make out session she walked in on, but she didn't. Zoe was extremely happy that she didn't.

"Okay, have fun." Emily said turning back around.

Zoe smiled.

"Make sure your back before it gets to dark." Alison said.

"I'll make sure she's home and safe." Cory said.

Alison nodded and turned back around.

Cory then turned Zoe's wheelchair and began to roll her to the door.

"Oh, wait, honey!" Zoe heard Emily call.

Zoe pinched her eyes closed and allowed Cory to wheel her around.

Dang it. Zoe and Cory were so close to being outside and free.

"We just thought that we should tell you then when you get back, Jason will most likely be here." Emily said.

Jason. Zoe's dad.

"Why would Jason be coming?" Zoe asked, asking as nicely as she could.

She liked her father, she really did, but he was never really around, so why would he come home now?

"He heard about how A is back and then he heard about the crash and your injuries. He's worried about you so he thought he would come and check up on you." Alison answered.

Zoe nodded. "Okay."

Alison smiled at Zoe and she smiled back.

Zoe looked up at Cory, who looked a bit confused.

He noticed Zoe looking at him and then he took that as his cue to move.

"Bye!" Zoe called out when Zoe and Cory began to head towards the door for the second time.

"Bye!"

"Have a good time!"

Emily and Alison said back.

The two finally made it out the door and now they stood at the beginning of the nature trail that led into the woods.

Zoe was tense as she stared at the woods. They frightened her. Many life changing events have happened in there.

"You don't have to be scared." Cory said, putting a hand on Zoe's shoulder.

His touch caused her to loosen up a bit.

"Let's go." Zoe said.

He chuckled and began to push Zoe to the woods. She knew she would be fine as long they didn't get to the spot.

Zoe looked around at the landscape. The woods was actually really beautiful during the day.

Cory pushed Zoe and she looked around at the beautiful landscape.

"Zoe, can I ask you a question?"

She turned her head and looked up at him. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Your parents mentioned some guy named Jason, and you seemed pretty upset by it. So I was wondering who this Jason guy is." He said, staring down at Zoe.

Zoe turned her head back to the woods. "Jason is my dad."

"Your dad?" He said in a shocked town.

"Yup. And he's also my uncle."

Cory stopped pushing Zoe and turned her around. "Wait, what?" He questioned.

"I only found out a few months ago. But up until then, Jason was only my uncle from Alison's side. But when A started mentioning that they knew who my father was, I got curious an finally Jason admitted to actually being the donor and my father." Zoe explained quickly. She wanted to get off the subject.

"Wow." Cory said. "And your upset by this?

Zoe hunched her shoulders. "Its not that I'm upset, I'm just shocked. Its weird, transitioning from uncle to dad. It's weird finding your dad in general when you have two moms. And it's weird that he's coming home. He lives out of state so I don't see him often, so I guess I was just shocked that he was coming home."

Cory nodded his head. "So he's not a bad guy?"

Zoe chuckled and shook her head. "No, he's amazing."

Cory smiled and turned Zoe back around.

After a few minuets if pushing, Zoe saw a puddle up ahead. She grabbed her wheels and speed up.

"What are you doing?" Cory called after her.

"Come over here and see!" Zoe said, speeding towards the puddle.

She waited until he was close enough. When he was, she pushed through the puddle and watched as the water splashed up on Cory.

It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to soak his shoes.

He gasped when the water shot up and then he smirked at Zoe.

He chuckled and Zoe laughed at him.

"I see how it is." He said.

Zoe stopped laughing when he stomped at the puddle and the water hit Zoe. Since she was a lot lower on the ground, it soaked her more.

"Hey!" She yelled, when it hit her.

He looked like he was going to stomp again so she sped up and zoomed away.

"Are you running away from me?" Cory called after her.

"Maybe." Zoe said back. Her arms were sore but she didn't care.

She heard his footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw him jogging towards her.

"Ah!" She yelled when she saw him.

He had two feet and was a lot faster that Zoe.

She stared to zig-zag, hoping to out maneuver him.

She did a quick turn and watched him speed past her.

She laughed as she wheel away. She was getting a lot better at moving around with her wheel-chair.

"You're good." He said, stopping for a second to catch his breath.

Zoe laughed as she continued to speed away.

She had her head turned and was looking at him. "I know!"

She watched the smile on his face turn more worried.

"Zoe, look out!" He called out.

Zoe faced the front again and looked ahead of her.

She saw a hill. She tried to put on the brake but she wasn't fast enough.

She grunted as she toppled over the side of her wheelchair and rolled out.

She heard Cory calling her name.

She saw him rush to her side.

"Zoe, are you okay?" He asked in a worried tone.

He helped her up. "Yeah I'm fine."

Zoe looked around her and her heart started to race. She felt her heart rate pick up.

"Can we get out of here?" She said, grabbing his hand.

"Yeah, just give me-"

"Now!" She said. Her breathing was getting heavier.

He stared at Zoe and noticed that she was freaking out.

"Zoe, are you okay?"

"No, get me out of this area!" She yelled at him.

He picked her up and set her back down in the wheelchair. She immediately began to wheel away from the area. She felt tears form in her eyes. She was also beginning to see flashbacks. She tried her best to block them.

When Zoe and Cory were back on the trail, Cory kneeled in front of her.

"What was that?" He asked, concerned.

She took a few deep breaths. "That's the spot." She said out of breath.

"The spot?"

"Yes, the spot where it happened."

Cory seemed confused at first, but then his expression turned to concern.

"Zoe, I'm sorry." He said, grabbing Zoe's hand.

She sniffled in. "Can you please just take me home?"

He nodded his head. "Of course."

He got up and began to push Zoe out of the woods.

Zoe was so angry. She was having such a good time until she fell, and it wasn't the falling that ruined it, it was the area she fell in. Once again, Daniel had to ruin a perfect moment.

As she said before, bad things happen in the woods.

As they exited, the sun was beginning to set and the memory burned.

* * *

There was another knock on the door.

"Come in." Rose said.

It was her mother again.

"You good? Do you need anything?" She asked for the thousandth time.

"No thanks, I'm good." Rose answered.

Aria nodded her head. "Okay. Call me or your father if you need anything."

"I will, mom." Rose said, smiling.

Aria smiled back and left the room.

When she closed the door, Rose took a shaky breath in and out. Last night was very emotional.

Seeing her parents took all the energy out of her, and at the moment she wanted to be alone and cool. But Rose loved when her parents checked in on her and it was completely understandable.

Rose got up from her bed and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her greasy hair.

Rose then looked down at her hands and noted the dirt and grime underneath her fingernails.

Realizing that she looked and felt disgusting, Rose decided to take a shower.

The hot water raining down on her body was soothing, yet the silence and comfort caused Rose to think.

Ever since she rang the doorbell to her house, Rose hasn't been able to forget about the threat A made.

A threating Rose was one thing, but A threating her family was another. Rose would do anything to protect them, even if it meant dealing with A's hate.

 _Stay gone or your family gets it._

 _Stay gone or you family gets it._

She couldn't stop re-reading the note in her head.

 _Stay gone or you family gets it._

Rose pinched her eyes shut and leaned against the shower wall. She had to get the idea out of her head, but it was impossible.

Realizing that the shower wasn't helping, Rose decided to get out.

She dried off and blow-dried her hair, and still the idea lingered.

Rose put on new clean outfit and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired.

Tired yet clean.

As Rose looked at herself, she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Out of curiosity, she peeked out her window to see her Uncle Mike and Aunt Mona's car.

Rose missed them to, so she opened her door and sprinted down the stairs.

They were already settled in the house, but when the two saw Rose they stood up and their faces grew this expression of happiness and concern.

Rose hadn't seen her uncle Mike in about five years and she hadn't seen her aunt Mona since the time she came to discuss business about A, and everybody was being snooty about her when she actually helped a lot.

Rose ran to Mike first. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same to her. He gave some of the best hugs, just the way he wrapped his arms around you and held you made you feel loved.

"Rose." He said softly.

Rose pulled away and looked at his familiar blue eyes and saw them watering.

Rose felt water being to form in her eyes to as she turned to Mona. She rushed into her arms and squeezed tight.

Mona was little, like Rose, so they were around the same height. Rose felt her chest rise up and down rapidly. Rose turned away and noticed that Mona had tears running down her face.

Rose felt the first tear roll down her face and she quickly wiped it away.

"I'm glad you guy are here." Rose said smiling.

"We've been here a while." Mike said.

"When your mom called us and told us you were missing we rushed down to Rosewood immediately." Mona said.

"Where have you been staying?" Rose asked.

"My mom's house." Mona answered.

Rose smiled and that caused everyone in the house to smile.

"God, I'm glad your back." Mike said, as a tear began to leak. He wiped it away smoothly. I don't think he knew that Rose saw.

"I'm glad too." Rose said. And she truly was, but she was also worried. Now that they were here, A had more targets.

Ezra opened his mouth, but a loud sound from the kitchen interrupted him.

Rose tensed up and turned towards the kitchen. She looked around the room for something that was large and could hurt someone. If this was A, she needed something that could protect her and her family. There was a large lamp close by that Rose decided was good enough.

Rose was about to reach for the lamp, but Mona began talking.

"Honey, what are you doing?" She called.

"I'm trying to find the Cheeze-its!" The voice called back.

Rose tensed up. She recognized that voice, but it couldn't be.

"Derek, come meet your cousin." Mike called out.

Rose tried her best to hide the shock in her face. Was this the same Derek that helped Rose when she was away?

Just then, the familiar blue-eyed boy rushed into the room. It was the same boy.

He walked in and looked at Rose. She was expecting that he would say something about how they met before, but he surprisingly didn't.

He walked up to Rose and extended his hand. "Hi." He said.

Rose reached down and shook his hand. "Hi, Derek." She said as calmly and smoothly as she could.

"Rose, this is our son, Derek." Mike said, nuzzling Derek's hair.

"How come I've never seen him before?" Rose asked, she was curious.

"We live far out near the border of Pennsylvania so we never had the chance to bring him down." Mona answered.

Rose turned to her parents. "How come you've never told me about him?"

"Because we never knew until a few days ago." Aria answered.

Rose was confused. "Why?" She asked her aunt and uncle.

"Reasons." Mona answered.

Rose was still confused, but it was obviously something Mona didn't want to talk about.

Rose turned to Derek who stared at Rose as if it was his first time seeing her. How was he such a good actor?

Another knock sounded at the door. Aria went to the door and looked through the window.

"It's Officer Victoria." She said, reaching for the door handle.

"You called her?" Mona asked. She sounded worried.

"Yeah. She and Toby were on Rose's case and I had to inform her that Rose was back, so she came over for questions." Aria answered, opening the door.

The door opened and Victoria stood on the other side with a smile on her face. She looked around the room and everyone standing in it.

"Well, I didn't know there was a party." She said stepping in.

"Derek, why don't you go play in the other room?" Mona said, turning to Derek.

"But I want to-" He began.

"Go play in the other room." Mona said in a strict voice. Derek hung his head low and listened to his mom.

Victoria walked further into the house and stopped in front of Rose.

"It's nice to see you again, Rose." Victoria said with a big smile.

Rose smiled back. "It's good to see you too."

Rose liked Victoria. She was a nice cop, and Rose wouldn't forget how Victoria let it slide that one time when she caught Kara drunk in the brew.

Victoria turned to Rose's parents. "So I'm guessing that you want to discuss the new terms to improve Rose's safety?"

Rose looked at her parents and Victoria. Her safety? Did Rose's parents tell her about A?

"Yeah, what do you think we should do?" Aria asked, sitting down on the couch. Everyone else in the room followed.

Victoria sat across from the Fitz's.

"Well, we don't want Rose wanting to run away ever again right?" Victoria stated.

"I won't ever want to run away again." Rose said. This is what this was about? Rose hated herself for running away; there was no way she was going to do it again.

"Did you ever think you would run away before you did?" Victoria said, staring at Rose.

"No."

"Then how can we be sure you won't get the motive again?"

"You'll have to trust me." Rose said sternly.

"We're going to need a little more than trust." Aria said to Rose.

Rose stared at her mother in disbelief. Her own mother wouldn't listen?

Rose sighed and turned to Victoria. "What do you suggest?" She figured she should give the idea a shot.

"Well you can pick one of two options." Victoria explained. "Option number one is sending Rose away for a few months to a care center that would look after her every move and restrict her from getting far from the facility."

At that moment, Mona shot up from her seat. "Rose is not going to psych-ward!"

Rose looked at Mona. She looked angry, Rose was too. She wasn't that messed up.

Victoria turned to Mona and gave her a cold stare. "I'm sorry, but this isn't your decision to make."

It was at this moment that Rose realized that Victoria and the other adults had a large age difference between them. Victoria seemed closer to Rose's age than she did Mona and the others.

Mona turned to Aria and Ezra. "You can't do that to Rose."

Rose looked at her parents and sent them a worried luck. Rose didn't want to do anything that involved constant supervision in an enclosed building.

Aria and Ezra seemed to read Rose's face clearly.

"What's the second option?" Ezra asked.

"We could have a care taker for her. You could have someone around the house to check up on her and be with her when she leaves and watch her every move."

Rose hated that idea too. She didn't need anyone to watch her, she was absolutely fine.

"What do you think, Rose?" Victoria asked.

Rose looked down. "It's better than the first one."

"So do you want to go with that?" Aria asked. She put a hand on Rose's leg.

"If it's my only other option than I guess so." Rose said, rubbing her face.

"Who would look after her?" Aria asked.

"Most likely a police officer. I would volunteer myself but I'm at a high level and have to deal with crime and such, so a lower ranking police officer will most likely take the job." Victoria answered.

"Would we be able to meet them first?" Rose's father asked.

"Of course, we wouldn't send anyone until you approve of them first." Victoria answered

"That sound good to you, Rose?" Aria asked.

Rose rubbed her face and stood up. "Sure. Let's do it."

She stared to walk into the other room.

"Where are you going?" The police offer asked.

"We've decided what we're going to do, so I'm going to leave now." Rose answered, turning back to the group.

They all looked confused and taken aback.

Victoria then turned to Rose's parents. "We can discuss the rest another time." She then stood up.

Aria and Ezra stood up also and shook Victoria's hand. They said there thanks you's.

"No problem." Victoria responded. "I'll call you when I find an officer who wants to be interviewed."

The couple nodded and allowed Victoria to leave. Before she walked out the door, she turned to Mike and Mona.

"Have a nice day." She said, and then walked out the door before they could respond.

They both seemed annoyed, Mona mostly.

Rose wouldn't ask. Whatever problem Mona had with Victoria was none of her business.

"I'm going to go get to know Derek a little more." Rose said, pointing behind her.

Mona nodded. "You go do that. Mike and I want to talk to your parents anyways."

Rose then walked off and found Derek in the guest room.

"What are you doing in here?" Rose asked.

This caught Derek by surprise and he turned around and looked at Rose.

"Exploring. What were you doing when you ran away and were roaming the streets looking like a lost puppy, Rachel?" He asked with a sharp tone.

"Exploring." Rose shot back.

Derek walked over to the desk in the room and sat in the chair. "I'm surprised you didn't say anything." He said.

"Me? I'm surprised _you_ didn't say anything." Rose said, pointing at him.

"Why would I say anything?" He asked all defenseless.

"Because you're a kid and had no idea what's going on." Rose said, sitting across from him on the bed.

"I didn't need to know that much to understand that you were going through a rough time when I first met you."

Rose looked at him for a long time. He seemed a lot more grown up.

"Did you know it was me when you first saw me?" She asked.

"Yes, I knew you were the missing Rose Fitz." He answered.

Rose shook her head. "Why didn't you tell your parents that you knew where I was?"

"Because I knew that you ran away for a reason and you didn't seem to be in danger."

Rose respected that, but she also felt like it was the wrong decision.

"Derek, you should have told them. Yeah, I would have been mad at first but I would have eventually thanked you for it because I would be with my family sooner." Rose said gently as she crossed her arms.

"Next time someone goes missing and I catch them picking from a garbage can, I'll be sure to tell someone." He said.

Rose smiled. "Good."

He smiled to.

"Derek!" Rose heard Mike call from the other room.

"Yes?" He called back.

"Come on, where leaving!" Mike yelled.

He turned to Rose. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." Rose said with a smirk.

Rose followed him out of the room and to the front door. Rose hugged her aunt, uncle and newfound ally/cousin good bye and ran back up to her room.

It was dark out now, and cold, so Rose stayed inside as she watched her parents and the Montgomery's walk down the long drive way to the Montgomery's car.

Rose watched as they loaded Derek into the car. As she did this, Rose noticed something strange in the reflection behind her. There was a smell of gasoline wafting in the air.

Rose turned around in time to see the gas lit and flame spark and the dark hooded figure dart out of the room.

Rose was shocked, but she chased after them, but the fire spread quickly. A burst of flames shot up in front of Rose that blocked her from moving any further.

Rose then turned around to head for the front door, but more flames blocked her path.

She was surrounded with no way out.

Rose watched the smoke rise.

The heat was on her, and it was burning her, but she couldn't move.

She watched the orange flames expand and engulf her surroundings.

Tears rolled down Rose's face as she tried to process what was happening. The gasoline was mushing her brain.

The ashes were burning her eyes, but she didn't dare close them. She wanted to see the last few moments before everything collapsed.

"Rose!" She heard her mother yell.

"Get out!" Ezra yelled.

Rose took a step forwards but the heat knocked her back. She couldn't take more than two steps.

She took a step back and she stumbled. She looked down.

Rose wiped her face of ash and tears and picked up the matchbox.

 _Welcome home, Rose! Here's my warm welcome._

 _-A_

She held the matches in her hand and looked back up at the flames.

"Rose where are you?!"

Rose couldn't tell who that was.

She went to call out but she inhaled all the floating ash and she began to choke.

Rose turned around to face the crumbling wall. A small hole was starting to form from the wall caving in on itself.

"Help!" She choked out.

It was useless. Nobody could hear her, but everyone could see the fire. Rose was pretty sure that she saw flashing lights off in the distance. But then again, the gasoline fumes could be messing with her.

Rose looked up and began to see the roof cave in. Rose could either stay where she was and hope that help would come get her, or try and take her chances and find on opening to get out of the area she was in.

She didn't get a choice.

The chunk of the flaming roof disconnected and landed on Rose.

It hit her with a fiery inferno, and she fell to the ground, matchbox still in hand.

* * *

 **AN: Well...**

 **This chapter was kind of like a couples episode and then there was Rose...lol.**

 **So anyways, I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **Thank you all so much!**

 **-Jessica**


	30. Sacrifice

**AN: Helllllllloooooooo!**

 **Efreeders and theliatheawesome favorited and Sarenaj1 and vvgarciaquininez followed and favorited!  
Thank you all so much!**

 **Okay, let's get started!**

* * *

When Anna and Dylan reached Anna's house, they saw Spencer's car in the driveway.

Anna didn't even wait till the car was fully stopped before she opened the door and got out.

She rushed to the front door and opened it. It was silent in the house.

"Mom!" Anna called out.

There was no reply.

Anna felt herself starting to sweat.

"Mom!" She called out again, more frantic this time. There was still no reply.

"I'll check down here, you go upstairs and look." Dylan said, putting a hand on Anna's shoulder.

Anna nodded her head, too afraid to speak. What if A did something to her mom?  
Dylan gave Anna a look of encouragement as he went off to look at the bottom floor and Anna looked up the stairs.

She didn't want to go up there, she was afraid on what she would see. But Anna knew that if the situation was reversed and it was Spencer who was afraid that A had done something to Anna, Spencer would run up those stairs in a heartbeat.

With that in mind, Anna rushed up the stairs.

The top floor wasn't that big, it only consisted of a few hallways, four bedrooms and a bathroom. The first place Anna looked was the bathroom.

She walked in slowly.

"Mom?" Anna whispered.

No reply.

She was about to turn and leave but Anna saw the shower curtain move.

Anna stared at it.

Maybe her mom was hiding behind it. If it was her mom, maybe A was still in the house. Or maybe, this was A behind the curtain.

Anna waited for it to move again, but it was still. Maybe she was paranoid and imagined it.

Anna was finding it hard to trust her own mind, but nonetheless, she was going to check behind the curtain.

She looked around the bathroom for something to defend herself. There was honestly nothing. The only thing of any use was a makeup mirror, so she grabbed that and slowly approached the shower.

When she stood in front of it, she raised the mirror and held it above her head, ready to strike if anyone was behind it.

She was shaking and was afraid to open the curtain. She took a deep breath and eventually mustered up the courage to grab the curtain.

She then pulled it so hard that the whole curtain broke off, and the hard pole fell on Anna and knocked her over before she could get a chance to see if anyone was in the shower.

She landed on the ground and felt a shock run through her body. It took her a minute to get her mind straight and remember that she had to check the shower.

She shot back off the ground quick and looked into the shower, completely defenseless.

Nobody was in there. Or maybe someone was, but as Anna fell down they ran out. Or maybe Anna was just paranoid.

Anna looked at the shower in both disappointment and relief. She wanted A to be in there so she could beat their ass, but she also didn't want A to be in there because that could mean that A was never here and never hurt Anna's mom.

Anna slumped her extremely tense shoulders and stared at the empty shower.

From downstairs, Anna heard Dylan call, "Anna, are you all right?"

Anna turned her head to face the open bathroom door, "Yeah, I'm fine."

She then looked at herself in the mirror. She looked crazy. Not that long ago, Anna felt fine, relaxed, safe even. But then all of a sudden Brendon showed up being sketchy and then Anna got the text and her life turned upside down.

And now she looked in the mirror and stared at her stressed self. Her eyes were wide open, and she was tense. She couldn't calm herself down enough to take control herself again.

A loud scream sounded through the house. It was female and recognizable as Spencer.

Without thinking, Anna grabbed the broken off metal shower pole and ran to the source of the scream.

She drowned everything else out, the sound of Dylan yelling her name, Anna's heart pounding in her chest, and the fear building up inside Anna's chest.

She had to find her mom.

The screaming came from Anna's parent's room.

She burst through the closed room and the first thing Anna saw was red.

Lots and lots of red.

The second thing Anna saw a body.

Spencer's body, which was also the cause of the blood.

The third thing Anna saw, was a black figure leap out the window.

The fourth thing Anna saw was her knees give out. She fell to the ground as she stared at the body. She screamed and began to slowly crawl to her.

Tears formed in her eyes as she made her way across the room.

When Anna got there, she stared at her face. It was barely recognizable and the fact that Anna's eyesight was blurry from her tears did not help.

She looked away and took a few seconds to calm down and wipe her tears. In these quite moments she heard Dylan yelling again, but she didn't respond.

Anna turned back to the body. She stared at the face and her heart dropped. It dropped in a good way.

This thing was not her mother. In fact, it wasn't a person at all.

It was a doll, dressed to look like Spencer.

Anna smiled and gasped in relief. She looked around at the blood. She figured it was fake but knowing A, it could also be real but she was too scared to test it.

Anna looked at the doll. There was something in its hand.

Anna ripped the thing from its hand and held the bloodied note.

 _If they help you in any way against me, just know that they're fair game._

 _-A_

Anna re-read it as Dylan walked in. Anna stared up at his shocked face; he was staring at the doll.

"It's a doll." Anna said standing up.

You could see the relief in his face.

Anna stood up. She held the note in her hand. She tried to read it again but she was shaking really badly, and it was difficult.

Dylan noticed and walked over to Anna. When he got there, he wrapped his arms around Anna.

When she felt his grip, Anna broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed into Dylan's chest.

He said nothing, he only cradled Anna and held her close.

Once Anna began to calm down, he calmly asked, "What does the note say?"

Anna sniffled and broke apart from Dylan's grasp. She looked down at the note one last time and handed it Dylan.

Anna watched his eye's scan the paper and his expression change. He angrily crumpled up the paper and let it drop to the ground.

"This is ridiculous." He said to himself.

"We have to tell everyone to stop." Anna said, biting her nail nervously.

"Stop?" Dylan questioned.

Anna looked up at him. "Yes. They need to stop helping. A is Kara, Zoe, Rose and I's problem and if this," Anna gestured to the bloody room and doll, "is foreshadowing to what A will do to our families, I won't be able to live with myself."

Dylan looked at Anna with sympathy in his voice. "You need help."

"I know that but I can't let A hurt anyone." Anna whimpered. "Not even you."

"I'm helping you solve this no matter what." Dylan stated.

"You can't."

"Anna, I don't care what you say, I'm not leaving you alone to be targeted." Dylan said getting angered.

Anna was shaking again. "Dylan, stop."

"Anna!" He said exasperatedly.

She felt tears leak from her eyes. She looked around her parent's room again. "Dylan, I can't."

"Can't what?" He asked with a crazy/angry/confused tone.

"I can't deal with this anymore!" She said, her voice cracking.

"And you don't have to deal with-"

"Yes I do!" Anna interrupted. She was basically yelling now. "I live in this constant bubble of paranoia and I'm tired of it! At first I could deal with it because I only had to worry about me, but now the level of intensity has sky rocketed and I can't deal with it. When I finally seemed to gain some leverage, A jumped back and is now threatening to _kill_ anyone who helps! And I know it's crazy and A could just be bluffing but I'm too scared to take that chance. I'm tired of worrying, I'm tired of not being able to trust myself and I'm tired of dealing with A which is all I'm doing lately. Okay, Dylan I'm tired. All I want to do is take a minuet to breath." Anna sobbed.

"And if you let me help, you can have a few minutes to breath." Dylan said, reaching his hand out to grab Anna's.

Anna backed away and threw her hands up. "You don't get it!"

Dylan was silent and stared at Anna.

She stared back. "You and everyone else are the problem. You're the one causing my stress. And I just want to stress to go away!" Anna pouted.

"Are you saying that I need to leave you?" Dylan whimpered.

Anna sniffled in again and took a shaky breath. "Yes." She squeaked out.

She saw a tear slip from his eye. "No. No, I can't leave you in the state."

"Yes you can, you just don't want to." Anna said.

He walked up to Anna and grabbed her hand quickly. "Anna, stop! Get this crazy idea out of your head!" He was staring deeply into Anna's eyes.

"I can't, Dylan. A's made it pretty clear that he'll kill if he doesn't get his way." Anna said, looking away from Dylan.

He grabbed Anna's chin and forced her to look at him. "I won't leave you."

Anna opened her mouth but nothing came out. The thing she wanted to say was so hard for her.

"I have to keep you safe." She barley said. "And I know you won't leave me, so I have to leave you."

He stared at her. "Anna, no."

"Please, get out." Anna cried.

"Anna…"

"Get out!" She pouted painfully.

He stared at Anna with a hurt expression.

"Get out." She whispered.

He stared at Anna with tears rolling down his face. He looked at Anna up and down one more time and nodded his head.

"I'm going to walk out that door but just know that I'm not going to walk out of your life. I'll still be here and I'll still be helping, no matter what. Anna, I love you and some stupid psycho isn't going to stop me from doing so." He said, slowly starting to walk to the door.

"I love you too." Anna said, twisting the diamond pendant on the bracelet. She was never going to take it off.

As Dylan passed Anna, he quickly grabbed her and kissed her and she allowed him to do so. She kissed back, knowing that this wasn't going to be their last; it was more of a 'see you later' kiss.

They broke apart and another small sob escaped from her lips.

He gave Anna one last loving look and then turned to walk out the door.

Anna remained in place as she listened to Dylan walk down the stairs and out the front door. She then walked to the window and watched Dylan's car speed away. Anna also noticed that her 'mom's car' which was obviously a decoy, wasn't there anymore. It must've been A's get-away car.

Anna turned from the window and stared at the room. She kept imagining her mother or father, or Brendon, or anyone taking that doll's place. She couldn't let that happen.

But Anna couldn't break up with any of them; she would just have to convince them to stay out of it, which they obviously won't do. Anna would just have to distract them with something else.

Anna sat on her parent's bed and stared into space. She waited patiently for someone to come home.

The silence was slowly starting to kill her.

After who knows how long, Anna heard the front door open.

She perked up at the noise and snapped back into reality. She looked around the room, still with the blood and doll in the room.

Anna remained in place and looked up at her mom when she entered the room.

The color drained from Spencer's face. She then looked at Anna.

"Anna, what happened?" She asked.

"A." She mumbled.

"Anna, speak up!" Spencer said strictly.

Anna turned and looked at her mom. "A." She said louder.

Spencer's expression turned worried. She opened her mouth to say something but Anna stopped her.

"And _I'm_ going to fix it." Anna said, standing up and walking out.

Anna didn't get to see her mother's reaction, but she was sure it was shocked.

It didn't matter. Anna wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt because of her.

* * *

Rose was out of the hospital in a day. Her injuries were not that bad. She had only a few cuts and bruises and a large portion of her back had a 2nd degree burn.

The burn was hard to manage. She had to wear loose shirts so the fabric wouldn't rub on her back. If it did, it felt like she was being burned all over again.

Rose's house had completely burned down. Nothing but ash remained. Rose was the last one to see the inside of the house. She was the only one in there when it came crumbling down.

Rose and her parents were forced to find a place immediately while out house was being rebuilt.

The Fitz's ended up living back in Aria's old house with Rose's grandparents.

Rose was staying in her mother's room.

At the moment, Rose was having her mother rub ointment on her burn.

Rose tightened up.

"Ouch." She groaned when her mother pushed down a little too hard.

Rose felt her mom's hand lift from her back.

"I'm sorry; I'm being as gentle as I can." Aria said sweetly.

"I know, I'm sorry." Rose said, looking down at her crossed fingers. "Just get it over with."

Rose hated having the ointment help. It didn't help with the pain at all, it was only supposed to help speed up the healing process.

It sucked.

Rose shut her eyes tight as her back began to sting. She tried to think of something to get her mind off of it but it was hard to focus.

She started to take deep breaths, thinking it might help. It didn't.

Rose opened her eyes and stared at the empty room. The room the they were in used to be Aria's old room.

It was empty except for the furniture. No pictures, no paint on the walls, the closet was empty, and empty spaces on the walls.

Rose imagined it filled with things her mother would fill it with.

Books, photos of her friends and family and even an occasional fork earing here and there.

Rose looked out the window and thought of A. She thought about all that they've done. What A did to the house was something Rose could have never imagined. She didn't think that A would have the capability to kill, because theycould have very easily done so. She thought of that stupid note she found when she was trying to sneak back into her house that one time. Rose took it seriously, but she didn't think that A would do something like burn her house down.

Rose learned her lesson on underestimating A.

She wondered how many times her mother did the same thing. How many times has Aria looked out her window and question A. How many times did she worry about her safety and how many times did she doubt A?

Rose couldn't tell if being in this room brings back memories of A to Aria. If it did, she was good at acting like it didn't.

"Done." Aria said, removing her hands from Rose's back.

Rose turned around shocked. She forgot about the ointment. I guess she finally found out how to block pain.

Aria handed her daughter a large sweatshirt. Rose put it on slowly, making sure to not hit her back.

She put it on and turned back to look at her mother. When she turned around, she was surprised to see her mother digging through the empty closet.

"What are you looking for?" Rose asked. There wasn't much stuff in there, so if she still couldn't find what she was looking for, it probably isn't in there.

"I'm looking for…" She said with a scrunched face. Aria's face turned happy quickly from concentrated. "Aha!" She said.

She must have found what she was looking for.

Aria grabbed the thing and walked it over to Rose. She sat down on the bed and handed the pig puppet to Rose.

Rose held it and looked at her mom, confused.

Aria smiled at it. "That's Pigtunia." She said, pointing at the pig.

Rose looked at it. "And why did you give me Pigtunia?"

Aria grabbed it from her and shoved her hand up it. "When I had to deal with A, I had Pigtunia to comfort me through the tough times. I didn't hug it and cry with it, but I would see it in the room and gain a little bit of comfort, and I know that you are going through an extremely tough time, so I want you to keep Pigtunia for a while." Aria said, playing with the puppet.

Rose looked at it. It reminded her of her rose necklace that Zak had given her so long ago. That unfortunately got lost in the fire.

Rose grabbed it from her mother's hand and out it on hers.

"Hi, Pigtunia." Rose said to it.

Aria laughed. "Don't you dare loose that."

Rose smiled back up at her mother.

"I won't."

"Good." Aria said smiling. She stood up and began to walk out the door. Before she left, she turned around.

"We're going to meet another police officer if you want to come." Aria said.

Rose's parents had already met three other police offers and none of them were good enough and Rose honestly just wanted them to pick one. Maybe if Rose was there, she could persuade them to finally say yes.

"Yeah, I'll come. When are we leaving?" Rose asked.

Aria looked down at her watch. "About five minutes."

Rose's eyes widened. Five minutes was not enough.

"Okay." Rose said, standing up. She started to dig in her bag for her hair brush.

Aria nodded and left the room, allowing Rose to get ready.

Rose brushed her hair, applied mascara and eyeshadow, and brushed her teeth in five minutes. She was washing off her toothbrush when she heard her mom call for her.

"Coming!" Rose said, wiping her mouth.

She rushed down the stairs and walked to her parents that were waiting for her.

"You better bring someone home already."

Rose turned around to see who spoke. It was her grandma.

"Mom, nobody is good enough." Aria said, rolling her eyes.

"Nobody is going to be perfect in your eyes, Aria." Ella said, taking a sip of her coffee. "You just need to pick someone who Rose thinks is good enough. After all, they'll be with her twenty four-seven."

"Okay, we're leaving." Aria said annoyed. She grabbed Rose's hand and gave her a small tug.

Rose looked at her grandma and smiled. It was funny watching Aria get embarrassed.

Ella winked at Rose and then turned around and walked back to the kitchen.

Rose smiled and turned back to her mom and dad.

They got in the car and Rose grew confused when they passed the police station.

"Why aren't we going to the police station?" Rose asked.

"He didn't want to meet us there. He wants to meet at the library." Ezra said, turning down another road.

Rose didn't question it; she just sat back and looked out the window.

When they got to the library, it wasn't hard to spot the police officer. He was sitting at the closest table to the door and we was wearing his uniform.

The family walked up to his table and when he looked up and when he saw the family, he extended his hand to Ezra.

"You guys must be the Fitz's." He said, shaking Rose's father's hand.

"We are." Ezra said, shaking the police officer's hand.

"This is my wife Aria," Ezra said, pointing at Aria. She smiled and shook his hand.

"And this is our daughter, Rose." Ezra finished, gesturing to Rose.

The police officer stared at Rose and smiled. "Hello, Rose." He said, holding out his hand.

Rose took it reluctantly and gave it a weak shake. "Hi." She said quietly.

"Well, I'm Noah and I'm hoping you'll consider letting me look after Rose." He said sitting back down.

The Fitz's sat down across from him. Rose didn't really like how he said 'look after Rose.' It made Rose sound like a child, and Noah was asking permission to babysit her.

Aria jumped right in by asking. "How many times have you looked after someone?"

Noah answered right away. "Never. This would be my first time."

Aria scrunched up her face. That wasn't a good first answer.

She looked at Noah. He didn't look that old. He looked like he was maybe nineteen or twenty, and he had brown eyes and brown hair. Rose didn't really look at how tall he was when she first saw him but she was guessing that he was average height. Probably 5'9 or 5'10.

The answer he gave probably wasn't the best, but Rose liked his honesty.

"You've never done this before?" Ezra questioned. Rose couldn't read his facial expression.

Aria looked as if she was ready to walk out. I guess no experience isn't good enough for her.

"No, sir." Noah answered.

"Then what makes you think you qualify?" Rose questioned with her arms crossed.

Her parents and Noah looked at her. Aria and Ezra looked a little surprised. They probably weren't expecting her to ask anything.

Noah smiled and looked at Rose. "Because I have gone through the exact same thing you've gone through, Rose."

"How so?" Rose questioned.

"I grew up with abusive parents and I thought I could run away and all my problems would go away but they followed me everywhere I went. I regretted running away as soon as I left, so I went back home and my parents didn't even realize I was gone and went back to their normal routines of pushing me around. It took me years to actually get help with the police and when they finally took me away from my parent's, my life was so good, so I went to cop school and my goal is to help kids who are just like how I was. Now, I know your parents aren't hurting you Rose, but something caused you to run away and I want to help you." Noah said. He kept a calm face through his story.

Rose continued her deep stare. She was trying her hardest to not show sympathy for him. She wasn't as weak as he thought she was.

"I'm sorry to hear about that." Ezra said.

When he spoke, Noah and Rose finally broke there stare-down.

"It's okay. It made me stronger and I hope to help Rose get stronger."

"So you know the signs of running away and you would be able to prevent it if Rose ever thought of running away again?" Aria asked.

"I'm not going to run away." Rose mumbled.

Aria held up a finger to shush Rose and she continued to stare at Noah, waiting for an answer.

Rose stared at the finger and she wanted to swat it away.

"Yes, I know how a person behaves." Noah answered.

Aria stared at Ezra and gave him a look.

"Can we have a minute to talk?" Ezra asked.

"Of course." Noah answered.

Aria and Ezra then got up and walked away to talk. Rose watched them speak. Their faces looked serious.

"I hope you know that I really want to help you." Noah said.

Rose turned around to look at him. "I know." Rose said. "But I don't need helping."

"Yes you do." Noah said.

"Just like you, I regretted running away and my life was miserable. I would never out myself and my family through that again." Rose said giving Noah the stare again.

"No matter how much you believe in something, there is also a weak spot. The thing that caused you to run away in the first place is obviously still a threat in your life and I believe that as long as that threat is still there, the thought of you running away again will always be there."

Rose stared at him. He had a way with words that made her question herself.

She gave him one last look and then she got up without a word and walked over to her parents.

"He has no experience, Ezra!" Aria was saying.

"His experience is his life." Ezra fired back.

Rose interrupted them and said, "I like him."

They both looked at Rose. "We'll it's not your decision." Aria said turning back to Ezra.

What was her problem?

"Well, I do have a say in it since I will be with him every second of everyday and I'm going to want to be with someone I like." Rose said, glaring at her mother.

Aria took a deep breath. "I just don't know if I trust him enough."

"Can't we just give him a chance? If we don't like him we'll send him off." Ezra said.

"I don't know." Aria said, putting her hand on her forehead.

"We're running out of police officers, Aria. You keep rejecting them all." Ezra stated.

Aria glared at her husband and remained silent.

"Oh, come on mom. Give him a chance!" Rose said. She was getting slightly annoyed.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Fine. Only because you like him enough to not annoy him out of the job." She said to Rose.

Rose smiled. "Thank you." She said in a sarcastically sweet tone.

Rose turned around and walked back to Noah. She gave him a thumbs up.

Aria and Ezra were not far behind Rose and when they got there, Ezra said, "We're going to give you a chance."

Rose watched Noah smile. His teeth were good to.

He stood up and shook Ezra's hand. "Thank you so much." He said happily.

Ezra nodded and then Noah turned to Aria. "Thank you."

Aria smiled a fake smile at him.

Noah then turned to Rose and she smiled at him. Rose really liked him, he was honest and straightforward and it would be nice to have someone who was always honest in her life.

Rose smiled in return. "Congratulations." She said.

He smiled and nodded.

"We'll get back to you with details." Ezra said.

Noah nodded and began to pack his things. "Thanks so much again."

"It's no problem." Ezra said, smiling.

Noah finished packing up his things. "I'll see you all soon." And then he left with a big smile on his face.

When he left. Ezra said, "We'll he seems excited."

"We just gave him his dream job." Rose said, looking at her father.

He looked back and smiled.

"Come, on lets go." Aria said, walking to the door.

What the heck was wrong with her? She was in such a good moos before they left.

Rose nodded her eyes behind her mother's back and the three then proceeded to the car.

On the way home, Rose thought about Noah.

She was kinda excited to get to know him.

She didn't know why. Maybe it was his troubling backstory and his pain could relate with Rose's or maybe he is just likeable.

It didn't matter. It made Rose happy to see Noah happy.

It was the first time in a while that Rose was actually excited about something.

* * *

 **AN: So that was chapter 28. I hope liked it!  
So next week is my spring break so I most likely will not be posting a chapter, but you should know by now that I'm pretty unpredictable, so who knows.**

 **Just don't be upset if you don't see a new chapter posted.**

 **Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	31. Favor

**AN: Hello again!**

 **Not much to say so let's just get right to it!**

* * *

Zoe sat in the main room cuddled up in a blanket. She wasn't feeling very well. Ever since she fell down in the woods, she's been feeling down.

Jason still wasn't in Rosewood. His plane was delayed a day, so he would get here some time tomorrow. Zoe was actually kind of happy that he wouldn't be coming right away. Zoe was in such a weird mood and she didn't want Jason to think it was because of him.

Zoe was home alone at the moment, her parents were at some presentation thing about lesbian marriage or something like that, but they should be getting home soon.

Zoe wanted them home, she would feel safer.

Not long after this thought Zoe heard the garage door open. Soon after that, her parents entered the house.

"Hey, honey." Emily said when she saw Zoe on the couch.

"Hey." Zoe mumbled back.

Alison stared at Zoe. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Zoe responded half-heartedly.

Emily and Alison stared at each other and then at Zoe. She stared back.

Both parents then made the way to the couch and sat down next to Zoe.

"What's wrong?" Alison asked, reaching out and grabbing Zoe's hand.

Zoe shook her head. "I told you guys that I'm fine."

"Your moping on the couch bundled up in a blanket burrito." Emily said, tugging at the blanket.

Zoe looked down at it. She did look like a burrito.

"I just don't feel that well, that's all." Zoe said eventually.

"What hurts?" Alison asked, putting a loose hair behind Zoe's ear.

Zoe tried to concentrate on her pain. It was hard to pinpoint.

Her whole body just felt weak and frail. Ever since her wheelchair fell in the spot, she's felt drained.

"Everything hurts." Zoe answered after a long pause.

It was silent again. If felt like forever until Emily finally spoke up.

"Do you hurt physically or emotionally?"

Zoe shot her eyes up to her mother. Emily had said it in a way that made Zoe feel even more confused.

Zoe looked away and shook her head. "Both." She said. The confusion brought on even more pain in Zoe's head. She put her hands on her forehead and rubbed hard, hoping to lessen the pain, but it didn't work. She groaned.

She soon felt Alison's hand on her back, rubbing in little circles. "What's wrong?"

Zoe thought back to the hospital.

"Well, for one thing I drank blood." She blurted out.

Zoe felt Alison's hand stop moving on her back.

"What?" Both parents said at almost the exact same time.

Zoe brought her hands down from her face and looked at her parents.

"A caught me when I was in a weird zoned out state and put a little bit of blood in my water bottle and I was too stupid to look at it before I drank it and I ended up pucking it up." Zoe explained.

"When did this happen?" Emily asked angrily, standing up from her seat.

"At the hospital not long after you two left. Cory was in the room to, but he was even more dozed out than me." Zoe answered, watching her mother pace back and forth.

Before Zoe could even see her parent's reactions, she said, "And then there's the car."

"What car?" Alison said with slight anger in her voice.

"The car that A put on our doorstep." Zoe said, looking at her parents. She nodded her head over to the corner of the room. "I threw it over there and I never picked it up. It's probably still over there."

Emily turned around with a confused look on her face and walked over the where Zoe told her to. She watched her bend down and pick the little thing up.

Zoe watched her eye's scan the object; you could see her eyebrows scrunch together in anger when she read the message on the back.

"What does it say?" Alison asked, walking over to her wife.

Emily sent a sympathetic look over to Zoe as she handed the car to Alison.

Ali quickly read the message and looked up at Zoe and gave her the same look that Emily did. Alison then sighed.

"Is there anything else you need to tell us?" She said in a cheeky tone.

"I tell you everything!" Zoe said. She knew from her mother's tone that she was implying that Zoe was keeping secrets.

"You didn't tell us about Cory." Emily pointed out.

Zoe felt hurt. "There's nothing secretive about him!" She said in her defense.

"I caught you two kissing." Emily said, putting her hands on her hips.

Zoe's felt her face get hot.

"And you never told us you two were dating." Alison added.

"I thought it was pretty obvious." Zoe said. She felt herself starting to shake, partly from anger and partly from embarrassment.

"You need to tell us these kinds of things." Emily said.

"I tell you everything I can!" Zoe said. She wanted nothing more than to get up and walk away, but she was sitting on the couch, and her wheelchair somehow ended up just out of arms reach when she was getting out of it, so she wouldn't be able to get away without her parents help, and that defeated the purpose of her leaving.

"'Tell us everything you can?'" Emily quoted, still with an angry tone.

Zoe rolled he eyes. "Yes!" She said, her voice shaking.

"So what is it you won't tell us?" Alison asked. Her tone was a little softer than Emily's, but it was still harsh.

"Personal things." Zoe said, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Like what?" Alison pushed.

"Like nothing because I have told you everything!"

Emily and Alison looked at each other and had a conversation with their eyes. Emily then turned to Zoe. "Fine, don't tell us." She said.

Zoe pinched her eyes closed and tried to calm down. Her parents were being ridiculous. When she was calm enough to steady her voice, she opened her eyes again.

"Fine, don't believe me." Zoe said, reaching out for her wheelchair. She couldn't reach it so she used all of her strength to scoot aside to get closer to the wheelchair. She managed to grab it and pull it to the couch.

Zoe found it easier to get in and out of the chair now that she has done it so many times, but she did struggle.

She got the chair in position and began to lift herself into it. Both Emily and Alison began to walk forwards to help, but Zoe put a hand out.

"Don't." She said in a steady and bold voice. She then looked at her parents and gave them her bitch stare. Zoe had perfected it over the many years. It looked like Alison's bitch stare, so she knew it would be affective. From all the stories Zoe has heard, Alison was a quite a bitch before she "died."

Zoe watched her parents stay in place as they both looked at Zoe's stare. It seemed to work since they both backed up.

Zoe managed to get in her chair on her first try, and then she angrily wheeled off to her room.

When she got there, she slammed the door and stared out the window, taking deep breaths. She started to calm down quickly.

The anger was blocking out her pain, but now that the anger was going away, the pain began to come back.

Zoe put a hand to her forehead and began to rub it again. It barley helped.

She tried to pinpoint all the places it hurt.

The number one spot was her head. It was pounding harder than it ever has before.

She noticed that her right leg, the broken one, was throbbing too. She didn't know why, she barely moved it. The doctors said stress could affect her leg, and Zoe was extremely stressed, so that probably was why it was throbbing. It was more annoying than painful though.

Zoe's emotions were also running wild. The woods were still fresh in her mind, and it brought back flashbacks of the night and that was making Zoe feel sad. Plus the fact that Zoe's parents had just attacked her added to the familiar feeling.

Zoe looked around her room and her eyes stopped at one of her many drawers. It was her sock drawer, but there was also something else in there.

She wheeled over to it. She opened the drawer and searched for the sock. She found it pretty quickly. It was the only one that had multiple socks wrapped around it.

Zoe knew exactly what was in it, and she was so tempted to open it. She stared to it for a while, and her sadness overtook her and she began to unwrap it.

She was down to the last sock, and she could see the edges of the razor poking out of the sock.

Zoe opened the sock and took the sharp object out. She stared at it. A small drop of dried blood was still on. When she looked at the razor, she started to think back to the last time she had used it.

It was the day that she was going to be seeing Amanda, her therapist, for the first time.

Zoe remembered that she was terrified to cut, because a few days earlier she had almost died because of cutting, and it was an addiction that she couldn't just stop.

She only did a few little cuts that weren't that deep. She then washed off the razor as best as she could and put it in the sock and it's been there ever since.

Zoe's been tempted many times to use it, but she was always strong enough to just walk away.

But now that Zoe had to deal with her leg, her parents accusing her of crazy things, the memory of Daniel in the woods, and the threat of A and how they are prepared to kill was starting to stack up on Zoe's mentality.

Zoe's hand began to shake as she stared at it. She felt the depression grabbing onto her and whispering into her ear to bring the razor down to her wrist.

Zoe looked down at her wrist, particularly her left arm. There was still a large ugly scar from the stitches.

Zoe then looked up and down her arms and looked at the smaller scars running up and down both arms. They were ugly and they made Zoe feel weak.

A tear rolled down her face. She closed her eyes again and tried to stop the tears.

She opened them again and nothing changed. She still had tears forming and she was still tempted.

She looked at the thing again and then she felt all her pain rush through her body, both physical and emotional.

Zoe looked at her arms and tried to find an area without a scar. There were few open spots.

Zoe hesitantly brought the razor down to her skin. She hovered over a patch of skin on her right arm.

She sighed and moved the razor away. What was she doing?

Zoe looked at the razor one more time and then quickly began to put it back in the sock. She went as fast as she could, she was scared she would change her mind.

Zoe slammed the drawer closed and wheeled away from it. She rolled over to the corner of her room and sat there, thinking over things. While doing this, her headache started to go down.

She jumped when her phone buzzed from across the room. It was silent in the room and the sudden sound from the phone frightened her.

Zoe wheeled to her phone and read the message.

 _ **You're weaker than I thought.**_

 _ **-A**_

Zoe shook her head and deleted the message right away. She didn't want to deal with A right now.

She scrolled through her contacts and searched for Rose.

She found it and typed a quick text.

 **Can I come over?**

 **-Zoe**

Zoe anxiously waited for a reply. Rose replied a lot longer than she usually does.

 **Sure.**

 **-Rose**

She then texted Zoe the address of the house she was staying in.

Zoe then wheeled out of her room and found that her parents were both still in the main room.

"I need you to drive me somewhere." Zoe said, still holding a grudge.

"You're not going anywhere." Emily said.

"Rose needs me right now." Zoe lied. In fact, Zoe needed Rose.

"Ok, where do you want me to drive you?" Emily asked.

Zoe knew saying that Rose needed her would convince them to let her go, since Rose's house just burned down and all that.

Zoe wheeled over to her parents who were both on the couch and showed them the address.

"That's Aria's old house." Alison said.

"That must be where she's staying." Emily said.

"Can you drive me?" Zoe asked. She was anxious.

"Yeah, get in the car." Emily said, standing up.

"Thanks." Zoe mumbled as she began to wheel to the garage. She rolled down the ramp and waited for her mom to help her into the car. This is the one place that Zoe really needed her mom's help.

Zoe lifted herself up and allowed Emily to assist her into getting into the car. Once she was in, Zoe buckled herself in and Emily put Zoe's wheelchair in the trunk.

Then Zoe and Emily began the drive.

"What do you think Rose needs to talk to you for?" Emily asked, looking at Zoe through the rearview mirror.

"I don't know. She's probably just lonely." Zoe lied again. She hoped her mom wouldn't notice.

The conversation didn't last very long after that. There was obvious tension between them.

The two got to Rose's house in fifteen minutes.

Emily got out of the car first and got Zoe's wheelchair ready for her and then Zoe lowered herself into it.

Emily then wheeled her to the top of the driveway.

"Okay, thanks." Zoe said. "Bye."

"Wait, hold up, I'm not leaving." Emily said, looking down at Zoe.

"Why not?" Zoe asked. She really didn't want her to be there.

"I wanna talk to Aria, and being in her old house is blast from the past." Emily said, looking at the house.

There would be no way to convince her mom to leave, so Zoe let it be. Plus, if Zoe and Rose's moms were busy with each other, then they wouldn't bother them.

The two then knocked on the front door.

It opened only a few seconds after Emily knocked on it. It was a boy with brown hair and brown eyes.

Zoe looked up at her mom. "Are we at the wrong house?" She whispered.

"No you're not." The man said politely. "I'm Rose's caretaker."

Zoe nodded her head. She had no idea Rose had a caretaker.

"Well, I'm Emily and this is my daughter Zoe." Emily said, shaking the man's hand.

"Hi." Zoe said when Emily introduced her.

"I'm Noah and it's nice to meet you both." He said, stepping aside and allowing the two inside.

"Rose!" Noah called when the two were inside. "Zoe is here!"

Rose ran down the stairs quickly and she looked at Zoe concerned.

"Hey, what's up?" Rose asked with a concerned tone when she was next to Zoe.

Zoe gave Rose a look that said 'be quiet'. As far as Emily knew, it was Rose that had the problem.

"Do you want to go up to my room to talk?" Rose asked, catching on to the fact the Zoe wanted to talk away from her mother.

"Yeah, sure." Zoe replied.

The two started to head to Rose's room when Emily said, "Rose, where's your mother?"

She turned around and looked at Emily.

"She's in the kitchen." Rose said with a smile.

"Thanks, Rose." Emily said, walking over to the kitchen.

Zoe looked up the stairs. Rose noticed her staring. "Oh, yeah." Rose said.

"We can go in the main room, no one is in there." Rose suggested.

"No, we have to go somewhere where there is a door." Zoe said.

"You can't go up the stairs." Rose said.

"Yes I can. I just need help."

Rose stared at Zoe. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just grab my arm and help me up." Zoe said, extending her hand.

Rose grabbed it and helped Zoe up. She wobbled at first but with the help of Rose, she was able to keep her balance. She hopped onto the first step and almost lost her balance, but Rose helped her. The two then made their way slowly up the stairs and in about ten minutes, they were halfway.

Zoe turned around and noticed that Noah was following them. She turned back around and tapped Rose on the shoulder. Rose turned and saw Noah to.

"Noah, you can go now." She said.

"No I can't." He replied.

Rose rolled her eyes. "I can't have twenty minutes with my friend?" She said in an annoyed tone.

Noah looked up. "I'll give you fifteen minutes and then I have to come check on you."

"Ok, fine." Rose said, grabbing Zoe's hand.

They began to make their way up the stairs again but Rose turned around. "And don't spy on us!" She said, staring at Noah.

"I won't." He said, putting his hands out in defense.

Rose turned back to Zoe and said, "Come on."

The two made their way to Rose's new room. It was empty except for a few pieces of furniture.

The two sat on Rose's bed.

Zoe looked around at the room. She liked the large windows that took up most of the wall next to the bed.

"This was my mom's room." Rose said, when she noticed Zoe was staring.

"It's nice." Zoe said, looking back at Rose.

Rose nodded her head. "And it's calming. Perfect for dealing with A." Rose said, smiling.

Zoe didn't smile back. She really wanted to talk to Rose.

"I'm guessing your hear to talk to me about A." Rose said, dropping her smile.

"Actually no." Zoe said.

Rose looked confused. "Then what's wrong?"

Zoe swallowed and took a deep breath. "Um…" she began. She could see the concern on Rose's face.

"…I almost cut today." Zoe admitted.

Rose looked at Zoe with sympathy. "What's wrong?" Rose asked.

Now this is why Zoe went to Rose. She knew she would be more sympathetic than angry. Anyone else would be like "how could you do that! Do you remember what happened last time?" And all that and then Zoe would feel ashamed, but Rose understood.

"I'm just starting to feel depressed again." Zoe said softly.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"The other say, Cory took me into the woods to go for a stroll, and I was fun at first, but I was going too fast and fell down a small hill." Zoe began.

Rose nodded her head, and allowed Zoe to continue.

"I ended up falling in the spot." Zoe said.

Concern fell over Rose's face. She knew exactly what Zoe was talking about.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I thought I was but the memory just keeps coming back." Zoe said. Her voice was starting to shake.

"Also the fact that A is still on my back. They made me drink blood and then they sent a miniature car to my front step that said 'Caution, Bitches on board.'" Zoe said, looking down.

Rose remained silent.

Zoe looked back up. "And I try to tell my parents everything! So I told them about the blood and the car and next thing you know, they're accusing me of lying to them. They have this theory that I have all these secrets that I'm keeping but I'm not because I hate lying." Zoe said in an angry tone. "And then I stormed off to my room and then next thing you know I have my razor inches from my skin."

Rose looked at Zoe. "And what do you want me to do about it?" She asked calmly.

"I just really needed to talk to someone and you are the only one who would understand." Zoe said.

Rose nodded her head slightly.

"And I figured that you would want to go to therapy with me." Zoe said, not looking at Rose.

"What?" Rose said shocked.

"I don't want to start cutting again and Amanda helped the first time and I know she can help me again. And I know you have problems of your own so I thought that maybe she could help you to." Zoe said, reluctantly looking at Rose.

Rose sighed. "Zoe, this is a huge thing."

"Please!" Zoe pleaded.

"I don't know…" Rose trailed off.

"Rose you ran away! Aren't you scared that you might do it again?" Zoe asked.

"No." Rose answered quickly.

"Well, I didn't think I would ever cut again and I was this close to doing it again not even an hour ago." Zoe said, pinching her fingers closely together.

"Zoe…" Rose moaned.

"Please at least think about it." Zoe asked.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, but the door opened and Noah popped his head in.

Both girls looked at him.

"I'm just checking in." He said when he saw the girls annoyed expressions.

"Okay, you can leave now." Rose said.

"I'll give you another ten minutes okay?" He said.

"Okay, just leave" Rose said, shooing him off. Noah had a blank stare on his face as he left.

"Is he always around?" Zoe asked.

"Always." Rose said.

"He's just making sure your safe." Zoe said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to watch my every move." Rose said, reaching behind her for something.

Zoe looked at the thing she was holding. It was a pig puppet.

"What the heck is that?" Zoe asked, pointing at it.

"Oh, this is Pigtunia." Rose said, stuffing her hand up its butt.

Zoe looked at it confused.

"It was my mom's." Rose said. "She said that it helped her stay calm." Rose said, moving its arms around. "It's surprisingly comforting."

Zoe was still confused but she wouldn't question it.

"You know, you should get a comfort object. It helps." Rose said, looking at the pig.

"There's nothing that could comfort me." Zoe said in a mopey tone.

Rose looked up. "Sure there is. Just get something from one of your mom's."

"I'm kind of mad at them remember?" Zoe said.

"Just get something, okay? It could help." Rose said.

"The only thing that would actually work is therapy with you." Zoe said, bringing it up again.

Rose looked up at her. "Don't guilt me into it." She said.

"I just really want you to come." Zoe said again.

"And I said I'll think about it. It's not something that I can think of an answer to in a few minutes."

"I know, just… really think about it." Zoe said.

It was silent and then Zoe heard a creak outside the door.

"What is that?" Zoe whispered.

"I don't know." Rose answered. She then got up and began to tip-toe to the door.

Zoe was hoping that if it was a person that they didn't hear what Rose and Zoe were talking about.

Rose put her hand on the doorknob and looked at Zoe and then Zoe nodded her head.

Rose threw the door open and caught the person behind the door.

"Derek!" Rose said angrily.

Zoe had never seen the little boy before, but the name sounded familiar.

"I'm sorry, Rose!" He said apologetically.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"We came to visit and Mrs. DiLafields wanted me to get Zoe." Derek said.

Rose turned around and looked at Zoe.

"Zoe, this is my cousin, Derek." She said, gesturing to him.

"Hi." He said nervously.

"Hi." She said back. "How much of that did you hear?" She asked.

"You were talking about Pigtunia." He said in a guilty tone.

Zoe threw her head back. Great, that means he heard about the whole therapy thing.

"Derek, don't you dare tell anyone about the therapy thing." Rose said strictly.

"I won't, don't worry." He said.

"Rose, he's a kid how do we know he won't tell someone." Zoe said.

"He can keep a secret." Rose said, looking down at him.

"How do you know?" Zoe asked.

"He didn't tell anyone that he knew where I was when I ran away." Rose said, smirking down at him. He smirked back.

Rose gave both of them a questioning look. He knew where Rose was and he didn't tell anyone?

Zoe shook her head. Whatever, it must be a family thing.

"Okay, but if he tells anyone-" Zoe began.

"I won't!" He said.

Zoe looked at him. "I trust you, Derek." Even though she really didn't, but she trusted Rose.

"So don't worry." He said smiling.

Zoe looked up to Rose. "Help me up." She said, extending her arms.

Rose came over and let Zoe balance on her like they did when Zoe was coming up the stairs.

Derek helped also as the trio waddled towards the stairs.

"Zoe, what are you doing up there?" Emily asked in horror when she saw Zoe.

"We wanted to be somewhere privet." Zoe said.

"You didn't have to go upstairs!" She said angrily.

"Mike and I'll get her, don't worry, Emily." Mr. Fitz said.

Then he and some other guy, Mike, walked up the stairs towards Zoe.

She really didn't want their help, but she couldn't refuse it either.

The two men then lifted Zoe effortlessly off her feet, and she gasped at how easily they lifted her off the ground.

They then slowly made her way down the stairs and she hated it. She didn't want their help.

They then slowly lowered her into the wheelchair as Emily gave her a dirty look.

"Next time, stay on the main floor." She said, crossing her arms.

Zoe nodded and turned to Rose. "Think about it." She said.

Rose nodded and then Emily and Zoe said their thank you's and good byes and then left.

The trip down the driveway and back home was awkwardly silent. Zoe knew that her mom's harsh behavior was only because she was worried about Zoe, but one of the main things that was hurting Zoe was the way she was treating her.

When the two finally got home, Zoe wheeled to her room in silence, not saying anything.

She climbed onto her bed and laid face down on her pillow as she slowly start to feel her head ache come back.

* * *

Kara woke up the next morning feeling naturally good about herself.

Maybe it was the fact that her and Owen were finally back together, or maybe it was the fact that Kara hadn't received a snarky A text about it yet, or maybe it was something else.

It didn't matter. Kara was just happy that she was happy.

Kara's happiness must have been noticeable, because when her mother walked into the kitchen, she asked,

"What are you smiling about?"

Kara looked up from her phone and looked at her mom. She felt her mouth spread into a smile and she slowly dropped the smile.

"I'm just in a really good mood." Kara replied. She was starting to feel her smile come back.

Hanna walked to the kitchen table and sat across from her. "Uh oh." She said, sitting down.

Kara looked at her mom. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Nothing. It means nothing, what are you happy about?" Kara's mother asked, resting her head in the palm of her hand.

Kara ignored the whole 'un oh' thing and looked down at her phone.

"I'm just happy." Kara said.

She couldn't really tell her mother why. Kara usually told Hanna everything, but some things are better kept a secret, like the fact that Kara had lost her virginity the previous day.

Hanna raised her eyebrows and got up from her seat. "Alright." She said in a long, drawn out tone.

Kara gave her mom a harsh look. "Okay, what is up with you."

Hanna stared at her daughter again in a guilty way. "Nothing, Kara." Hanna said, turning around to get a mug from the cupboard.

Kara watched as she made her way across the kitchen and into a cabinet to retrieve coffee beans.

"You know, I thought we told each other everything." Hanna said, putting the beans into the machine.

Kara was taken aback. "What do you mean-"

"I'm just saying that I know something happened and I know you won't tell me." Mrs. Rivers said, pointing a finger at Kara.

"I'm not hiding anything." Kara said, trying her best to not look straight into her mother's eyes.

"And I don't believe you." Hanna said. She then turned on the machine and the loud crunching of the coffee beans sounded through the house.

Kara got up from her seat and began to make her way up the stairs.

"Where are you going? Don't you want coffee?" Hanna asked, yelling over the machine noise.

"No, I'll probably just get something at the brew." Kara yelled. She was still angry at her mom.

"The brew? Why are you going there?" Hanna asked. She then finally turned off the machine and poured the coffee into the mug.

"I work there." Kara said with a dumb tone in her voice. She left out the part about wanting to see Owen. As far as her parents knew, Kara and Owen were still broken up and Owen had crushed Kara's heart.

"Will Owen be there?" Hanna asked. Her face had a look of disgust on it.

"Of course I will." Kara said. She was curious on why her mom made that face.

"Try to ignore him." Hanna said, pouring creamer into her coffee.

"Why?" Kara asked. She was getting nervous.

"I don't trust that little weasel." Hanna said, taking the first sip of her coffee.

Kara stood in place shocked.

"Honestly, he thinks he can leave you at a horrible time when you really need the support, and then when he thinks he's finally man enough to somewhat handle the situation, he comes back thinking that's everything is one hundred percent okay between the two of you. And now he keeps stalking you and slowly starting to convince you that everything he did to you was okay. God, that kid is ridiculous." Hanna said shaking her head.

Kara felt like she was going to puke. Did her mother really hate Owen that much? How would she react when Kara told her that not only were Owen and Kara back together, but that he was also her first? Hanna would probably disown Kara. She always told Kara to wait for the right person, someone Kara knew she could trust, and Kara _did_ trust Owen, but obviously her mother didn't.

"I should talk to Lucas-" Hanna said more to herself than to Kara. "- tell him that he needs to keep his son away from you and for him to stop trying to convince you that he's 'sorry.' Yeah, I know his kind. He'll do the exact same thing to you again."

"Okay, enough!" Kara said angrily.

Hanna looked at Kara with a shocked expression.

"I get it, you don't like him." Kara said. "Your sounding really harsh but I still have to work with him so can you please stop?" Kara said, trying not to cry. When Hanna found out she would kill her.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "If you think that I'm being harsh you should hear what your father feels about Owen."

Kara's heart dropped into her stomach. Did she really want to hear how her dad felt about Owen.

"How does dad feel?" Kara asked quietly. She really didn't want to hear it, but she was curious.

Hanna chuckled quietly to herself. "If it wasn't illegal, your father would kill that little runt."

Kara's jaw dropped. "I thought I was angry when I found out he broke your heart, but you should have seen how red your father's face got and how angry he was." Hanna said, pouring the little remaining coffee into the sink.

Kara remained silent. She was scared that if she talked again, her voice would crack and then her mother would know that something was up.

Hanna turned and looked at Kara. "Just know that we have your back, Kara." Hanna said with a glint in her eye.

Kara nodded and tried her best to keep her voice from cracking. "I know." She said.

Hanna smiled and Kara fake smiled back and then turned away, heading up to her room to retrieve her apron for work.

Kara was no longer in her happy mood, and she wished that her mother never walked into the kitchen. Some things are better left a secret.

While in her room, Kara angrily ripped through the clothes in her closet until she found the apron and then she angrily tied it on. Her mother's conversation was still running through her head.

While she walked to her car, she tried to avoid her mom, but she stepped in front of Kara before she could leave.

"Are you leaving without saying goodbye?" She asked.

"I'm late." Kara lied.

"You could still say goodbye."

"Goodbye." Kara said flatly, she then side stepped her mom and rushed for her door. Her mother didn't go back for her.

She angrily opened and closed her car door. Kara put her hands on the wheel and took deep breaths. She needed to calm down enough to drive. Ever since the accident, Kara has had anxiety around cars, and driving with your mind racing about other things is not a good idea.

Even though the brew was not that far away from Kara's house, ten minutes at the most, she wasn't going to risk it.

Kara was extremely focused on the road and she made sure she took her time. And she didn't dare turn on the radio. She would have to drive a couple more times before she trusted herself again.

Kara saw the brew up ahead and she felt relieved that she didn't have to drive anymore. But then a whole other knot grew in her stomach when she remembered that she would have to see Owen. Should she tell him that Kara's parents despise him, or should she wait it out and hopefully be able to convince her parents that Owen was okay?

Kara pulled into the parking lot before she could decide. She parked in the back of the lot where few cars were parked. Partly because she was scared she would hit a car if she parked next to one, and partly because she wanted more time to think.

She went over it over and over again in her head.

If she told Owen right away, he would probably feel hurt and would act weird. He would also try his best to get on Mr. and Mrs. River's good side.

But if Kara kept it a secret and somehow managed to get her parents to like Owen, he could be hurt for keeping it a secret. Kara knew that Owen was sensitive. He left her once for keeping a secret and he could very well do it again.

Kara pinched her eyes closed and shook her head. She was thinking her mother's words and she refused to believe that her mother was right.

She was about to open the car door when she felt something buzz in her pocket. Kara didn't know what to expect, but she wasn't very happy when she saw who sent the text.

 _ **So mommy and daddy don't approve of Owen? Would be a shame if they found out that you and Owen 'made up.'**_

 _ **-A**_

Kara's stomach did a backflip when she read the text. How did A know? Kara hadn't talked about it out loud, and as far as Kara knew, there were no cameras left in her house.

She didn't want to think about it.

She slowly started to make her way to the building and when she got to the door, she took a deep breath and opened it. Right away she heard, "Hey, Kara!"

Kara recognized that it was Owen and she smiled. She found him across the brew waving at her.

She waved back.

She made her way across the brew and when she made it to Owen, she hugged him. He hugged back and they quickly broke apart. He smiled at Kara but the smile quickly faded and he looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Could he tell? "Yeah, I'm fine." Kara said, still smiling.

"Okay, well just do what you always do." He said, handing Kara a notepad and pen. He still looked suspicious, but Kara appreciated that he didn't question her.

Kara took the notepad and pen and put it in her apron. She began making rounds around the brew and asked if anyone needed anything and did her job, but her mind kept going back to the Owen thing.

She kept constantly looking back at him and she would ponder if she should tell him.

After a while, Kara couldn't take it anymore. She walked up to Owen who was working the cash register and said. "I need to talk to you."

He looked at Kara and studied her face. He then smiled. "I know what it is."

Kara's face went blank. "You do?"

"Yeah, of course I do." He said, sorting out the different coins in the cash register.

Kara remained silent. "Well, what is it then?" She was nervous. Did he know?

"You want a promotion." He said confidently.

Kara laughed. "No, Owen, it's-"

He interrupted her. "- You don't need to be embarrassed. You've been working here for a while and the costumers seem to like you so I'll have a word with my boss to see if you can start making drinks."

Kara stared at Owen. That's not at all what she was thinking, but she decided that she wouldn't tell him how her parents despised him.

"Thanks, Owen, that would be awesome." Kara said, smiling.

He smiled to and gave Kara a quick peck on the cheek. "Anything for you." He said.

Kara smiled at him as she heard the bell that signaled someone opening the door.

Kara turned around to see who it was. It was Anna, with an extremely hurt look on her face.

Kara turned back to Owen. "I'm going to go see what Anna wants." She said, pointing behind her.

"Go ahead." He said.

Kara nodded and went over to Anna's table.

Anna was in such a deep thought that she didn't even notice that Kara walked up to her.

"Anna! Anna, are you okay?" Kara had to call.

Anna eventually brought her gaze up to Kara after she had to call a few times.

Anna sighed. "I didn't know you were working today." She said, rubbing her face.

"Were you hoping I wouldn't be here?" Kara asked as she sat down across from Anna.

"Actually, yes." Anna said. "I wanted to be alone."

She removed her hands from her face and Kara finally got to see a close up.

"Have you been crying?" Kara asked. Anna's eyes were all red and puffy.

She hesitated before she answered. "Yeah."

"Why?" Kara asked sincerely.

"I broke up with Dylan." She said quietly.

Kara was shocked. "What did he do?" She asked. She knew that it wasn't her business but she needed to be there to support her friend.

"He didn't do anything." Anna said quietly. You could tell that this was hard for her to talk about.

Kara didn't say anything. She didn't want to force anything out of her.

It was silent between the two of them for a few seconds.

"A threatened my mom." Anna said, picking at the salt shaker.

"How?" Kara asked.

"A got me to believe that they killed my mom. They broke into my house and planted a doll that looked like my mom in my parent's room and put fake blood everywhere." Anna began. Her voice was starting to crack. "I thought it as my mom at first and I panicked and didn't know what to do. I finally managed to see if it was actually her and found out it was a doll, and that A left a note."

"Anna, I'm so sorry. That must be traumatizing." Kara said. She waited a few seconds before asking, "What did the note say?"

Anna reached down in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. She then handed it to Kara.

She quickly unwrapped it and read the note in her head.

 _If they help you in any way against me, just know that they're fair game_

 _-A_

Kara brought her eyes up to Anna's.

"A basically said that he would kill my mom if they continued to help." Anna said, a tear falling from her eyes.

"Anna…" Kara trailed off. She didn't know what to say.

"I figured it applied to everyone so I had to break up with Dylan because I can't let him get hurt because of me." Anna said, wiping the tear.

Kara thought of Owen. She just got him back; she didn't want to leave him. She would just have to convince him not to help.

"How are you going to get your parents to back off?" Kara asked.

"I don't know." Anna said, biting her nail. "That's what I've been trying to figure out all day. I need to distract them somehow."

"You're going to have to find something major. They aren't going to drop A because of something little." Kara said.

"I know. I just don't know what to do."

"How far are you willing to go?" Kara asked.

"As far as it takes." Anna said, finally looking at Kara.

"I'll be here for you." Kara said, giving Anna a warm smile.

"I know you will." Anna said, smiling back.

"I just don't know anything you can do that won't be a danger to yourself." Kara said.

"If I have to do something to myself to protect them, I'll do it." Anna said.

"Anna, you have to take care of yourself." Kara said seriously.

"I know, but I can't let A do anything to my family." Anna said, staring Kara in the eye.

Kara stared back. She understood what Anna meant. Kara wouldn't be able to get through life without the support of her parents.

"Just tell me before you do anything." Kara said, starting to stand up.

"I will." Anna said. "And can you get me a Carmel Macchiato?" Anna asked.

"Coming right up." Kara said with a smile. She then made her way over to Owen.

"Anna wants a Carmel Macchiato." She said to him.

"Is that what you were talking about that whole time?" He questioned.

"It's none of your business." Kara said sarcastically.

He laughed and said, "One Carmel Macchiato, coming up." He then turned to make the coffee.

Kara turned back around and watched Anna. She watched her think, you could tell she was in deep thought; her forehead was starting to develop wrinkles.

Kara wondered if she should go back over there, but it was clear that Anna had made up her mind.

Kara would do anything to help her. She just hoped that Anna would be willing to let her.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, I hope you liked this chapter!**

 **For the Anna thing, I honestly have no idea what she can do, so I'm going to let you decide.**

 **Review and tell me what you think she should so to distract her parents, and if I like the idea, I'll use it. I'd give credit of course!  
Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	32. Control

**AN: HELLOOOOOOOOOOO**

 **I want all of you to know that you can leave suggestions at any time and you can also leave some ideas, because believe it or not, writing this story is extremely difficult.**

 **Alright, let's get onto it!**

* * *

Anna decided that until she figured out something she could do to get her parents away from A, she would try her best to ignore them.

Not completely, but enough to where she would be able to keep the secret inside.

Unfortunately, Anna couldn't think of anything. And she spent so much in her room trying to think of something that she was extremely sick of her house. Her room in particular.

She had had enough so she went out for a walk. She walked down Main Street with a blank stare and a blank mind.

Anna didn't know exactly what she was walking to, she just didn't want to stop and think about it. She was tired of thinking.

She came to a stoplight and was forced to stop or else she would've been hit by a car.

As she waited for the crosswalk signal to show, Anna found herself picking at her bracelet.

She looked down at it. It made her sad. Every time she looked at it she thought of Dylan and thinking about him felt like someone had grabbed Anna's heart and was squeezing it and twisting it.

No matter how much it hurt her to think about him, she refused to take the bracelet off. Anna and Dylan might be broken up, but Anna still loved him and he still loved her. It was A that was the problem.

Anna looked up from her hand and noticed that the walkway was clear and someone was walking on it.

Anna recognized them immediately.

"Chelsey!" Anna called after her.

Chelsey must not have heard her.

Anna called for her again but made the stupid mistake of running out into the road right as the light turned green.

A loud blaring horn followed by the sound of screeching tires halting to a stop sounded as Anna looked to see the car just feet away from her.

She stared at the car in shock. It only took her a few seconds to jump back into reality.

She stepped back onto the sidewalk and stared at the driver through the window.

"Sorry!" Anna yelled as it passed.

The driver, a middle aged man, only glared at her.

Once it past, Anna looked through the cars and spotted Chelsey walking away quickly.

Anna looked back up at the countdown. She still had another ten seconds until the cars would have to stop again.

Anna tapped her foot impatiently as she watched Chelsey's brunette head walk away.

"Come on." Anna grunted as she watched the clock countdown. It was the slowest ten seconds of her life.

The light finally turned red for the cars and the red hand switched to the pedestrian walking sign and Anna jogged across the walkway.

When she made it, Anna called out for Chelsey again.

"Chelsey, stop!" She yelled.

Chelsey who was a good twenty feet ahead of her stopped in place but didn't turn around.

"Chelsey!" Anna called one last time.

Chelsey finally turned around and looked at Anna. She looked confused. It was like Chelsey hadn't recognized Anna yet.

Anna began to speed walk towards Chelsey, hoping that she wouldn't walk away.

Chelsey looked at Anna with a confused look on her face, but as Anna got closer, she noticed Chelsey's face turn from confused to anger.

"Anna, can you stop following me!" She said in a disgusted tone as she turned around and began to walk away.

Anna finally caught up to Chelsey and she put a hand on her shoulder.

"Chelsey, please." Anna said when she touched her.

Chelsey turned around and looked Anna up and down with an emotion that Anna couldn't read.

"What do you want?" She said in a prissy voice.

"I want to talk to you about Dylan." Anna said slightly out of breath.

Chelsey rolled her eyes when she head Dylan's name.

"Nope." She said, turning around and walking away again.

"Chelsey, please stop. I almost got hit by a car trying to catch up to you so can you please just listen to me?" Anna said. She didn't chase after Chelsey this time; she wasn't going to force her to talk to her.

Chelsey turned back around and stared at Anna.

"You were almost hit by a car?" She asked with a tone of little concern in her voice.

Anna nodded her head. "Yeah. You didn't hear the honking?"

Chelsey looked down at her intertwining fingers. "I did but I thought it was just someone with road rage."

"Yeah, well it's because I ran in front of their car and if they didn't stomp on the brake I would've been hit."

Anna thought back to that moment that wasn't even ten minutes ago. She wondered if that's what Rose felt when Anna almost killed her with _her_ car.

Chelsey took a few steps towards Anna. "Why do you want to talk about Dylan?"

Anna smirked when Chelsey said this. She was proud of herself for actually getting Chelsey to talk. Maybe it was good that Anna almost got hit.

Anna quickly turned serious as she looked back at Chelsey. "I think that Dylan in is danger."

Chelsey chuckled. "Danger?" She said with a tone of dumbness.

"Yes, Chelsey I'm serious." Anna said, staring right into Chelsey's bright blue eyes.

Chelsey took a step back. "I think Dylan's just fine." She said.

"No, Chelsey you don't understand-"

"He looks just fine." Chelsey said, looking over Anna's shoulder.

Anna turned around and followed Chelsey's eyes. Her heart sunk when she saw Dylan walking across the same crosswalk that Anna and Chelsey has walked.

He must not have noticed them because if he did, Anna was ninety nine percent sure he would come over and drag Anna away. He was looking around as if he heard his name.

Anna turned back to Chelsey.

"We need to go." Anna said, grabbing Chelsey's shoulders and pushing her back.

"Anna, what are you-"

"He can't see us." She said, turning Chelsey around and directing her towards the nearest store.

"Why not, he's your boyfriend." Chelsey said as Anna opened the door to Lucky Leon's Cupcakes.

Chelsey walked in first and Anna followed her.

"We're not together anymore." Anna said sadly as they stood in the middle of the cupcake shop.

"Oh." Chelsey said. Anna could hear the slight happiness in her voice, but Chelsey at least tried to sound sympathetic.

"Yeah." Anna said, breezing over the awkwardness. "And I'm worried about him."

"And why is that?" Chelsey said, walking over to the front counter. She crouched down and looked at the displayed cupcakes.

"I think that somebody might try to hurt him." Anna said. "And what are you doing?" Anna asked Chelsey, who was still looking at the cupcakes.

Chelsey stood up and gave Anna a questioning look. "I'm looking at the cupcakes." Chelsey said in a dumb tone.

"I know that but why?" Anna said, crossing her arms.

"We're in a cupcake store. We might as well but some cupcakes." She said, turning back to the display case.

Anna gave Chelsey a scorn look.

Chelsey got the attention of the worker and when the worker came over, a twenty something year old man, Chelsey said.

"We'll take a dozen of those." She said. She then pointed at something but from the angle that Anna was at, she didn't get to see what Chelsey was pointing at.

Anna then watched at the worked crouched down and opened the display case but before he could grab anything, Chelsey said,

"No, I don't want of those musty ones, go make up some fresh ones." Chelsey said in a sweet tone. She then winked at the worker and he grinned and then proceeded to the back of the store.

"What was that about?" Anna asked.

Chelsey turned to look around. She spotted an open table and then began walking towards it. Anna followed.

"It's not important right now." Chelsey said, sitting down. "Aren't we here to talk about Dylan?"

Anna sat down and shook her head. "Yeah, right." She said, getting back on track.

"You said that you think someone is trying to hurt him?" She questioned.

"Yeah, and I'm really worried." Anna said, shaking her leg.

"Why would someone want to do that?"

"Because of me." Anna said guilty.

Chelsey silently chuckled. "Because of you?"

"Look, I can't get into it but I think it's the same person who attacked me in the corn maze." Anna said.

That got Chelsey's attention. She made a look of disgust.

"You mean the person in the black hoodie?"

Anna sat up straight. How did she know about that?

"How do you…" Anna began to question.

"You weren't the only one to get attacked that night." Chelsey said, sitting back and crossing her legs. She glared at Anna.

"I don't understand, I thought you wandered out into the woods while you were drunk and passed out." Anna said, still sitting straight up.

She laughed. "That's what they told you."

"What happened?" Anna asked.

Chelsey hesitated. "Nah."

"Chelsey, please I need to know!" Anna pleaded.

"Did you forget are last meeting?" Chelsey asked, tilting her head.

Anna remembered. She just hoped that Chelsey didn't.

"Look, I'm sorry about that but-"

"You made out with Dylan right in front of me just to make me angrier than I already was." Chelsey said, slowly leaning in to the table.

"I know, I'm sorry-"

"No, you don't get to be sorry!" She said, angrily. "Believe it or not, but people other than you and your little group have problems of their own to. And this point in the life is so hard for me and Dylan was the only thing that helped me get through it, but no! Here comes little Anna Cavanaugh running around. Little Anna, who somehow manages to get Dylan's attention and since he's into girls with issues, he decided to drop me for you. And next thing you know your problems start affecting me to. For example, this psycho dressed in all black decided to follow me around at the corn maze and when I'm not looking, they put something in my drink. And I don't notice it at first, but then this weird feeling takes over my body and I start to realize what's happening."

Anna stared at Chelsey. She didn't know what to say.

"I tried to find Dylan but he was nowhere to be found. And that's where my memory stops. I don't remember anything after I gave up looking for him. But I do remember being dragged by the ankles into the woods and then I remember waking up in the hospital and being accused of underage drinking. And when Dylan finally comes to see me, he ends up breaking up with me because there is "someone else."" Chelsey said. She was now all up in Anna's face.

"And that someone else ended up being the vary girl who lied next to me unconscious in the woods." She said, leaning back.

Anna shook her head. "Chelsey…" She began but she trailed off. She didn't know what to say. Why would A go after her?

"So after all the trouble you've cause me, why should I help you?" She said, glaring at Anna.

"How many other times has this person in the black hoodie contacted me?" Anna asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Chelsey asked with sarcasm in her voice.

"Just answer the question." Anna said, staring into Chelsey's eyes.

Chelsey was silent for a few seconds, but she eventually said. "Once."

Anna was about to ask what for but Chelsey didn't give her time to answer.

"It was a note left on my front door. It said to not tell anyone about that night." Chelsey said. She was avoiding eye contact.

"So why would you tell me?" Anna asked.

"So you could feel the guilt of bringing this person into my life."

Anna was silent. She remembered back when the A thing first started. One of the first threats was to get rid of Chelsey, but when she didn't, A must have attacked her. She remembered the text A sent when Anna so long ago.

 _ **I told you to get rid of her. You didn't listen.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna looked at Chelsey. She did feel guilty.

"Do you still care about Dylan?" Anna asked.

"Of course I do!" Chelsey said matter-of-factly.

"Well I think the person in the black hoodie is after him to, and if you care about him, you're going to help me protect him." Anna said seriously.

Anna's tone must have worked, because Chelsey asked, "How?"

"I need you to get back together with Dylan." Anna hated saying it, but this might be the only way to protect him.

"You want me to what?" Chelsey questioned.

"You know what I said."

"I don't think he could just take me back. Plus, he's probably not over you." Chelsey said in a sad tone.

"I need you to at least try, okay? He needs to forget about me." Anna said. Her voice was starting to shake a little.

Chelsey looked at Anna with sympathy.

"Alright." She said after a long pause. "I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Anna released a breath she was holding. "Thank you." She said. She hated the fact that she wanted Dylan to move on but if it was the only way to ensure his safety, Anna would take the chance.

Chelsey gave Anna a small smile as she stood up. "Just remember this the next time I want something from you."

Anna watched as Chelsey stood up. "I will. Thank you."

She nodded her head and headed towards the door.

It was not until after Chelsey was out the door that Anna remembered the cupcakes.

Anna got up and quickly got to the door and opened it. She looked around the empty street and didn't see Chelsey.

Where could she have gone? There weren't many places she could go, it's a small town. Plus, there was nobody on the street so she couldn't blend in.

"Miss!"

Anna turned around to see the male worker from before.

"Your cupcakes are ready." He said, holding out a box.

"I'm sorry my friend ordered them and she left." Anna said. She then looked back outside. She was extremely curious on where Chelsey went.

"That's okay; you can take them and give it to her." He said.

Anna turned back around to see him. He was extending the box outwards to Anna.

"I don't have any money." Anna lied.

"Please take them, they're on the house." He said with a smile.

Anna looked at the box in his hands and she slowly started to approach them.

"They're free?" She asked.

He nodded her head.

Anna grabbed the box from his hand and looked at him.

"Thanks." She said, smiling.

"Come back any time." He said.

Anna nodded and turned to leave. As she walked out the door she noticed that there was still nobody walking down the street.

Anna began making the walk to her house and stopped when she reached the crosswalk.

She stopped and looked both ways. There were no cars in sight.

Since she was in no hurry, Anna decided to look at the cupcakes.

She opened the box and she shrieked in horror and dropped it into the street.

She stared down at the mushed cupcakes. She could still see the design on every twelve of them.

It was a picture of Dylan, except his eyes were scratched out and nothing but red replaces them.

Anna looked down in horror. She noticed a slip of paper sticking out of the mushed cupcakes.

She bent down and picked it up. She wiped away the frosting and read the message.

 _I told you to not talk to her again. Now he's going to pay the price_

 _-A_

Anna put her hand under over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

She put the paper in her pocket as she frantically looked around to see the streets slowly starting to fill up again.

Anna looked down at the cupcakes again and then she started to sprint.

She wasn't going to stop until she found Dylan, not even her asthma would stop her.

Maybe it would've been better if Anna never left his side.

* * *

"Do you need anything?" Noah asked for the millionth time today.

"No." Rose said again, for the millionth time today.

Noah didn't respond back. He just nodded his head slightly and leaned back on the wall.

Rose rolled her eyes and then went back to her "research." She wanted to know where Zak was.

She had called and texted his cell phone number, but after a while, the little robotic voice said that his inbox was full.

After that didn't work, Rose tried his apartment outside of Rosewood. She called the home phone that was in the apartment and that didn't work.

After that, Rose called the owner of the building and they said that they hadn't seen Zak in a while. They said one day he walked out and didn't come back.

Then Rose called the only other place she would think that he would be: his apartment in Rosewood.

They said that Zak checked out a _long_ time ago.

After that call, Rose wanted to give up on finding him. She really needed him.

Out of everyone in Rosewood, he would be the best bet on figuring out who A was. He _did_ work for them. Maybe at one point he heard their voice and maybe he got see A's full body, so he could describe A's body shape. Or maybe he could at least tell Rose if it was a boy and a girl. You would think he would at least know that, right?

But if he did know these things, why wouldn't he tell Rose when he was with her that night on the hill? Maybe A threatened him or maybe it just didn't cross his mind.

All this thinking was making Rose agitated, so she tried her best to stop thinking about it.

She grunted to herself when she couldn't stop. She looked at her phone and picked it up.

She figured that she could try calling Zak's apartment outside of Rosewood again. She heard the familiar rings, but her hopes were crushed when it went to his voicemail.

"Hi, you've reached Zak, I can't get to the phone but leave a message and I'll call you back."

Rose hung up before the beep. She was tired of hearing that stupid voicemail. She then put her phone down and began to rub her temples.

"He's not going to call back."

Rose snapped her head to the side and glared at Noah.

"What?" She said sharply.

"Whoever you're trying to reach. I've seen you call them all these millions of times and if they still aren't answering, then they never will." Noah said.

Rose took a deep breath in. "How do you know it's a he?" She asked.

"I guessed." He said with a smirk.

Rose stood up and angrily made her way towards him. "No you didn't, how did you know?" She said, glaring at him.

"Okay, you caught me." He said, putting his hands up. Rose waited for his answer.

"I went through your phone records." He said quickly.

"You what?" Rose yelled.

"I got permission from your parents to go through them because they were curious on who you were trying to reach."

"Why didn't they just ask me?" Rose asked.

"They were afraid you would lie."

Rose grunted and walked away. She went back to the kitchen table and grabbed the back of one of the chairs.

"Did you look at my texts to?" Rose asked. If he did, he was bound to know about A.

"No. That was one of the things your parents forbade me to do." Noah answered, walking slowly to Rose.

Before he could get to her, she stormed away to the room that Rose's parents were staying in. She knew they were in there.

She opened the door without knocking and angrily said, "You let him go through my phone records?"

They both looked up at Rose shocked. "What-" Aria began.

"Don't bother denying it, Noah told me you gave him permission." Rose said, interrupting her mother. She was lying in bed, reading something.

"We were curious on who were trying to talk to." Ezra said from across the room. He was digging in one of his drawers for something.

"You could have asked me!" Rose said angrily.

"How would we know that you would be telling to truth?" Aria asked, putting her book down.

"You would trust me because I am your daughter!" Rose said, throwing her hands up.

She stared at her parents who were silent.

"And I'm trying to talk to Zak, but you already knew that. I want to talk to him because he has done more to help me with A than the both of you combined." She said her last sentence with a sharp tone and then she quickly stormed out of the room and then into hers.

She slammed her door closed and then plopped onto the bed. She felt a hard lump under her and she lifted up her body to see what it was.

Pigtunia.

Rose grabbed it and stared at the dumb thing. She grunted as she chucked it across the room.

She was furious. Did her parents really not trust her?  
Rose wasn't ashamed that she was trying to reach Zak, she shouldn't have to be. He helped her.

It's like they're afraid to talk to her. They put their little lab rat up to the test to see who was on the other end of the phone.

Rose has talked to Noah more that her parents ever since he moved in.

Noah. Rose thought she would like Noah. She thought he would be nice and give Rose some space, but nope. He was attached to her like glue. Everywhere she went he was there. He wouldn't let her leave the house. Every time she attempted to she would always find the door locked from the outside.

That's another thing they let him do. He installed new locks so when he suspected that Rose was trying to leave, he would push a button and all exits would lock.

And Rose knew that every single care taker would ask this way, she just thought that Noah would be a little more understanding, since he went through the same thing and all.

Then she heard three light knocks at her door.

"What?" She said angrily.

Then the door opened. Noah.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Can you leave me alone for five minutes?" Rose said, staring at him angrily.

"I just want to-"

"I'm fine!" She said loudly.

Noah stared at Rose and he didn't leave.

"Oh my god, leave!" She groaned, throwing a pillow across the room at Noah.

It hit the ground before it reached him and he stared down at the pillow.

"That was pretty weak." He said.

"What do you want?" Rose asked, getting pretty inpatient.

"I want to know if you're okay." He repeated.

"God, is your job to stalk me?" Rose said, getting up and crossing her arms.

He opened the door fully and stepped in.

Rose remained silent.

"I know you hate it but I have to be around to make sure you dot do anything you're not supposed to." He said when Rose was silent.

"That's the issue." Rose said, glaring at Noah. "I'm not trying to do anything I'm not supposed to. All I want is some privacy and that seems like it's a foreign concept to you."

"I get you want your privacy-"

"Then why don't you give it to me?" Rose interrupted.

"I will in a second, just answer my question." He said calmly. "Are you okay?"

"Okay, you know what just leave." Rose said turning around. "If I would have known your job was to be with me every second of everyday watching my every move and asking dumb questions and-"

"Right now I'm not doing my job." He said, interrupting Rose. "I as a person am concerned about you and I want to know if you are okay." He said.

Rose pondered what he said. Was this really a person question? Whatever it didn't matter.

"I'm fine. A little angry actually. It seems like my parents and I are pretty disconnected. It's like they're scared to talk to me and they go to you for everything and I just wish that they would talk to me." Rose finally answered.

Noah nodded his head slightly. He looked like he was pretty shocked that Rose actually answered.

"I think that they are scared to say the wrong thing. If they do say the wrong thing, you might get angry at them and the wanting for you to run away will come back and your anger against them will cause you to do it." He answered.

"I just wish that they understood that I have no intention to run away. I was more miserable out there than I was when I ran away in the first place." Rose said. She was starting to calm down.

"Well tell them that." He said, heading back to the door.

Rose nodded to herself. "Noah?" She asked.

He turned and looked at her. "Yes?"

"My friend thinks I should go to therapy." Rose said. She didn't mention Zoe and that it was _her_ that wanted to go and Rose would tag along; Rose knew she wouldn't like that. "Do you think it would be a good idea?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think it would be pretty helpful. Why are you asking me?"

"Because I really don't want to go and I'm finding an excuse." Rose said with guilt on her voice.

"Why don't you want to go?"

"Because I don't think there's a problem."

"Well, the first step to therapy is realizing there is a problem. And I think yours is that you don't trust yourself." Noah said.

"I trust myself!" Rose said defensively.

"If you trusted yourself you wouldn't be asking me about therapy." Noah said, smiling slightly as she went to open the door.

"Noah, wait." Rose said, taking a few steps towards him. Now she didn't want him to leave.

He turned around and looked at Rose.

"Am I allowed to leave the house?" She asked.

He looked at Rose confused. "This isn't prison. You can leave."

Rose looked outside her window. It was starting to get dark, but it was still light enough.

"Can I go somewhere?" She asked.

"It depends where." He said, looking out the window to where Rose was looking.

"If I tell you, you probably won't let me go." Rose said.

"Well if you won't tell me, I'm going to have to come along with you." Noah said with a small smile on his face.

Rose smiled to and stood up. She walked past Noah and out the door. She opened her parents door slightly and peeped her head in. "Noah and I are going somewhere." She said.

"Where?" Ezra asked.

"Just out for a walk." Rose said, slowly exiting. Nobody said anything so she closed the door.

She turned around and was shocked to not see Noah right behind her. She rushed downstairs to see where he was and he was by the door, waiting for Rose and holding her coat and shoes.

Rose approached him and grabbed her shoes slowly. "Thanks." She said, putting on her shoes. After she tied them she grabbed her coat from his arms also. She put it on.

"No problem." He answered. "So are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope." Rose said as she reached in the little bowl by the door for her keys.

"So were not taking a walk?" He said when he noticed Rose with the keys.

"Why do you want to?" Rose asked.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Let's get going before it gets to dark." He snatched the keys from Rose's hand and walked out the door.

She followed him to the car and the two quickly made their way to the destination. Rose gave him the directions and in about fifteen minutes, they were there.

"Pull over here." Rose said, pointing to the curb. He did so and looked around.

"Where are we?" He asked.

Rose looked out her window and stared at the giant empty space.

"My house." She said quietly. She then got out of the car before Noah could say anything.

She got out and began to walk to the empty space. Construction workers were trying to rebuild it yet, but they hadn't started yet. They were going to try to make it look as much as the house as it was before the fire as possible.

The only thing that stood in the middle of the empty space was a few planks of wood and caution tape surrounded the property.

Rose fast-walked to the tape. She stopped behind it with Noah on her trail.

Rose stared at the space. It was weird. She could still point out where the house was. The driveway was still there but it leads to burned grass. And the burned grass made an imprint of the house. It was like the fire was only focused on the house. It only spread throughout the house. It didn't even burn any grass near it.

Despite the lack of everything, Rose could close her eyes and picture the house their perfectly. She did this and took a deep breath.

She opened her eyes and looked at the nothing. She felt her eyes begin to water.

"This is where your house was?" Noah said, looking at the side of Rose's face.

"Yeah." Rose said with a shaky voice. If she said more than a few words, she knew she would start to cry.

"I really did take down everything." Noah said to himself.

"Yep." Rose said in a whisper.

"Do you know what caused the fire?" Noah asked.

Rose did know. She saw A light the fire, but Noah didn't. He can't know because he doesn't know about A.

"No." Rose lied.

He gave Rose a sad look.

"The fire was intentional." He said sadly.

Rose looked away. She knew that but it still hurt knowing that someone was perfectly okay will hurting her family.

"We found bottles of gasoline not far from the house and a matchbox that could have been used. Plus we-"

"Okay, that's enough." She said, cutting him off.

"We still haven't found who did it though." He said. Disappointment was in his voice.

Rose looked down at her feet. She didn't know why she wanted to come to her house, she felt drawn to it.

"I promise you Rose, I will find out who did this and I will put them in jail." He said, putting a hand on Rose's shoulder.

Rose looked at his hand and then slowly made her way up to his face. He looked serious.

She wanted to say something like "don't bother" but she stopped herself. If the police knew about A, it would only cause more problems.

Rose opened her mouth to say thank you to him but a loud bang stopped her.

It came from behind the two.

She turned around to see who it was but nobody was there.

"Did you hear that?" Noah asked.

Rose nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Come out now!" Noah yelled loudly.

"Noah, don't." Rose began, but Noah kept shouting.

"Now!"

"There's nobody there." Rose said, stepping in front of Noah.

"Stay back." He said, completely ignoring Rose.

He then took a step forwards and pulled something out from under his shirt.

"You have a gun!" Rose whisper-yelled.

"Shh!" He said, sending a sharp look over to Rose.

Rose was petrified. "Noah, this isn't necessary."

"Rose, be quiet." He said, looking straight ahead.

"This is your last warning!" Noah called out.

Then Rose saw movement from behind one of the houses. It was hard to detect the figure, but it was a person.

Everything went by so fast.

The person started to sprint towards the two and Noah aimed his gun.

"Stop!" He yelled, but it was useless.

Rose saw Noah put his finger on the trigger and aim.

Rose looked back at the figure and her eyes grew wide.

She lunged for the gun with every ounce of strength she had in her. She grabbed it as Noah pulled the trigger.

Then the bullet flew.

* * *

 **AN: I hoped you liked this chapter!**

 **I apologize if there are a lot of spelling mistakes, I just really wanted to get this chapter posted since I have been working on it all day.**

 **Also, please give me ideas for Anna, I want to know what you want to see.**

 **Again, I apologize for any spelling errors and I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-Jessica**


	33. ThreAts

**Hi guys!**

 **Lorisuzzan favrorited and Luckymissme followed so thank you!**

 **Alright, let's get started!**

* * *

Rose didn't know where the bullet went, she only heard the sound of it leaving the gun.

Her ear was right next to the barrel of the gun, so the loud sound of the gun being fired caused a ringing to sound in her ear.

Rose ignored that at the moment and looked back at the person who was the target of the gunfire to see if they were okay.

They stood in place and stared at Rose with a worried expression but overall they looked okay.

Rose turned to Noah who also had a worried expression on his face.

She took this moment of silence and smacked the gun from his hand.

"Noah, what the hell is wrong with you!" Rose yelled at him.

Noah looked at Rose with a defensive expression. "He was going to attack us!"

"No he wasn't." Rose said, walking away from Noah and towards the other person.

Rose walked over to the person and looked at him up and down.

"Zak, are you okay?" She asked. She was extremely happy to see him, but not in this situation.

He nodded his head and then he put his hands on Rose's shoulders. "I'm fine, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but my ears are ringing from the gunshot."

"Rose, what are you doing?" Noah asked, slowly walking towards the two.

Rose turned around glared at Noah.

"You stay the hell back!"

He stopped in place. "Rose, he would've-"

"Shut up!" Rose yelled.

Zak grabbed Rose's arm to calm her down but it wasn't working. "Rose who is this guy?"

"He's my caretaker." Rose said, not taking her eyes off Noah.

"Rose," Noah began, "I don't know who this man is and I'm going to have to ask you to back away from him."

"He's my friend, Noah, and you could have killed him." Rose said, still standing right next to Zak.

"I wasn't going to shoot him." Noah said with a slight chuckle in his voice.

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to look at Zak. "Get me out of here."

Zak nodded and led Rose away.

"Rose where are you going?" Noah called out. Rose hear feel his footsteps approaching.

"Away from you." She called back.

"You can't do that, I have to protect you!"

Rose turned around and glared at Noah. "You shot a gun inches from my face!"

"You were the one who jumped in front of the gun!" Noah yelled back. You could hear the frustration in his voice.

"Because you were going to shoot an innocent man!" Rose yelled.

Noah was silent.

Rose laughed. "Got anything else to say?"

"Just let me take you home and we can talk about it there." Noah said, stepping closer to Rose and Zak.

"You're not getting anywhere near her." Zak said, stepping in front of Rose.

"I'm sorry but who exactly are you?" Noah said, sending an annoyed look over to Zak.

"I'm the guy who was with Rose when she ran away. I was the one who saved her before she got hit by a car, I'm the guy who fed her when she was starving, I was the one who gave her clean clothes, I'm the one that cleaned her wounds and I'm the one who brought her back." Zak said in a strong voice. "And now I'm going to be the guy who takes her home away from the creep who would kill a man because he approached him wrong." He finished and grabbed Rose's hand and slightly tugged at it.

Rose looked at Noah's face for as long as she could. He looked ashamed. She was expecting him to start back up again about how he was to always be around Rose and how _he_ had to take Rose home but he remained silent.

Rose eventually turned back around to face Zak and she allowed him to take her to a car.

He opened the passenger seat door for her and allowed Rose to sit down. She did.

He then got in the driver's seat and began to drive.

"What happened to your house?" Zak said after a few minutes of driving.

"What do you think?" Rose asked, looking out the window.

"A burned it down, didn't they?" Zak said, taking a sharp turn.

"Bingo." Rose said, rolling down the window.

"God, I'm sick of that asshole!" Zak grunted. He then hit the dashboard really hard.

Rose turned to look at him. "Why didn't you reply to any of my calls?"

Zak kept his eyes on the highway and he didn't respond.

"Zak!" Rose scolded.

"I didn't answer any of them because I knew that A would somehow find out and them knowing that you still have contact with me could put you in even more danger." He finally said.

"Zak, you're the only person who could help us stop A." Rose said, looking at the side of Zak's face.

He shook his head slightly. "And how is that?"

"Do I have to remind you that you worked for A for months?" Rose said in a sarcastic tone.

"I've told you everything about that." Zak said quietly.

"Zak, there has to be something else. You had to have at least stood in front of them. You should know how tall they are and if they are a boy or a girl and you knowing their hair color could be pushing it but-"

"Rose, I never saw A face to face." Zak interrupted.

Rose's mouth hung open. "You've never…"

"No. They communicated with me the same way that they communicate with you and the others. Through texts and notes. The only times I've seen A were the times they were attacking you and it's hard to see what they're doing when they're doing it in the dark, let alone study their body." Zak said, speeding up.

"You can't even make a guess?" Rose asked, looking out at the road.

"I don't know, Rose." He said, going even faster. "My guess is that A's a man. How else could they have beat up a person like Caleb?"

"Women can fight to." Rose said, getting slightly offended.

He looked at Rose. "I know but Caleb's a pretty big dude."

Rose looked back out at the road. Zak was going way over the speed limit.

"Slow down." Rose said.

"Rose, were fine." He said, remaining at the same speed.

"Zak, slow down!" Rose demanded.

He signed and pressed down on the brake.

"You happy?" He said when they were going a lot slower.

Rose looked at Zak with a hurt look. "What's wrong with you?"

He looked at Rose with anger on his face. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"You're acting different." Rose said, turning back to the open window. The fresh air hit her face.

"I'm just frustrated."

"Frustrated about what?"

"A." He said the letter as if it was a curse word.

"Aren't we all?" Rose said to the open air.

"Where are you going after this?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, but I can't stay in Rosewood." He said.

"Why not?"

"I'll put you in even more danger than you're already in."

"Zak, you're the only one who can protect me." Rose said sympathetically. "I mean, look at what you're doing now. You got me away from Noah which no one has been able to do."

"Yeah, but you almost got your face blown up in the process because of me." He said in a depressed tone.

"Noah would have brought his gun out at anything. You aren't special." Rose said smiling.

Zak smiled to.

"Please stay." Rose said after a slight pause.

His smile faded. "Rose, I can't."

Rose turned away from him and pouted. "Then I'll just run away again."

He turned to look at Rose. "Don't say that."

"You're the only person I feel safe around and if you're going to leave then I'm going to find you." This was very true. Rose always felt like she would be okay when Zak was around.

"Rose, don't guilt me into this." He said, turning a corner.

"Just know that I would be miserable if you left."

Zak pulled into the driveway of Rose's grandparents' house and parked the car.

"It hurts to be away from you too because I never know if you're okay or not." He said, reaching out and unbuckling Rose's seatbelt.

Rose watched him. "Then don't leave."

Rose looked into Zak's eyes and he looked into hers.

He opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off.

"Rose?"

It was Aria's muffled voice.

Rose looked out the front window and saw her mother standing outside the door.

Rose turned back to Zak. "Don't leave yet." She didn't give him time to answer before she opened the door and began to walk towards her mother.

"Where were you?" Aria asked when Rose got to her. "And whose car is that?"

Rose turned around and looked at Zak through the window. From all the way up the driveway, Zak was only a silhouette.

Rose turned back to her mother's worried face. "It's Zak's."

"Zak? Where's Noah?" She said frantically.

"Zak and I left him back at…" Rose trailed off when Aria stormed off towards Zak's car.

"Mom!" Rose called after her. "Mom, stop!"

Aria got to Zak's car and knocked on the window. Rose caught up to her mom just as Zak stepped out of the car.

"Hi, Mrs. Fitz." He said awkwardly.

"What are you doing with my daughter?" She asked angrily.

"I was only driving her home." Zak said defensively.

"Where did you find her and why wasn't she with Noah?" Aria asked, sending a sharp glare over to Rose. She rolled her eyes.

"She was with Noah but when he pulled out his gun and fired it inches away from Rose's face, I figured she was safer with me." Zak said boldly.

You could see Aria's face drop.

"Noah fired his gun?" She said with disbelief.

"He thought I was a threat." Zak answered.

"Where is he now?" Aria asked.

"We don't know." Rose answered for Zak. "We drove away before we could see where he went."

Aria shook her head. "I knew he was the wrong choice." She said to herself.

"I'm sorry, I thought-" Rose began, but she was cut off.

"Be quiet, Rose." Aria said. She turned to Zak and said, "Zak, you can head home. I have to talk to Rose and her father."

He nodded his head. "Of course, Mrs. Fitz." He then opened his car door.

"Zak?" Aria said before he closed the door. "Thanks for bringing Rose home."

He nodded his head and proceeded to get in his car. Before he could close thendoor, Rose grabbed his hand.

"Don't leave me alone." She said.

Zak took a deep breath. "Don't worry. I'll never leave you." He said. He then closed the car door.

Rose looked at him through the window. Was he actually staying? It was hard to tell. He spoke in a tone that made Rose question.

She watched him pull out of the driveway and drive away. Rose hoped that she would see Zak again. He was the only person who made Rose feel comfortable.

"Rose, come on." Aria said, grabbing Rose's arm.

Rose looked down at her mother's hand clamped around her arm. She then looked back up at her mother and nodded her head.

She then allowed her mother to lead her back into the house.

* * *

Today was the day that Kara would finally get her stitches out.

She was ready for it, but she wasn't ready for the scar.

As she waited in the waiting room for her name to get called, Kara thought of ways to cover it up.

It was right under her hair line and it was a couple inches long, and her hair would most likely not cover it up.

Kara then turned to makeup. She could maybe cover it up with the right contouring, but that was a big maybe.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kara heard her name called.

"Kara." The nurse called looking around.

Kara stood up and walked towards the nurse, her parents close behind.

"Alright, Kara, so as you probably know, we're going to take out your stitches today." The nurse said.

Kara nodded her head. So did her parents.

"So what we're going to do," the nurse continued, "Is cut each thread near the knot and pull them out. The process is rather quick and painless so, Kara, I'll take you back and you should be out in a half hour."

"Okay, let's go." Kara said, taking a few steps down the hallway.

"Wait, don't you want us to come with you?" Hanna asked, grabbing Kara's arm.

"I'd rather you not." Kara said as politely as she could.

Both parents looked sad but it wasn't the end of the world for them.

Hanna let go of Kara's arm and allowed her to walk off.

"See you in a half hour." Caleb called when Kara was halfway down the hall.

Kara turned around and saw him waving dramatically. Kara chuckled and shook her head. At least her father was positive.

Kara and the nurse then made many lefts and right, too many for Kara to remember, and then they finally stopped at a room.

"Alright, if you'll step inside, the doctor will be with you in a minuet." The nurse said, still smiling.

"Alright." Kara said quietly. She then stepped inside the room and sat on the very uncomfortable bed.

The nurse closed the door behind Kara and then she was alone.

Kara hated the silence. She liked the noise; it helped her stay on topic.

She scanned the room with her eyes. There wasn't much to see. There was a stool for the doctor, a glass gar with wooden Popsicle sticks, a box with gloves, a sink, etc.

There was nothing that seemed that out of the ordinary.

After a long five minutes, the doctor finally walked in, with their back turned to the wall.

"Hi." Kara said to the doctor.

They didn't say anything back.

She watched as the doctor began to prepare things on the counter. They pulled out a pair of scissor and some wipes and some other things that Kara didn't know the name of.

"Before you cut the stiches out, do you think you can tell me how deep the scar is going to be? Like, will I be able to cover it up with makeup?" Kara asked.

Again, there was no reply. It was like the doctor hadn't heard Kara at all.

"Hey." She called out.

"Hey!" She said even louder.

The doctor still showed no acknowledgement.

Kara stared at their back. What was wrong with the doctor?

She could tell that they were working on something because their hands were moving fast.

Kara slid off of the bed and stood behind the doctor who a little bit taller than her.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Kara said from right behind the doctor.

Kara watched as they slowly nodded their head.

"Then why won't you answer me?"

They ignored Kara again and they continued to work on what they were doing.

She rolled her eyes and stepped to the side to see what the doctor was doing.

But just as Kara stepped to the right, so did the doctor.

Kara watched the doctor's shoulders move up and down as they released a slow and hideous cackle.

"Okay, this isn't funny." Kara said, crossing her arms.

The doctor kept laughing.

Kara found the laughing rather weird. And what could the doctor be working on? All they needed to cut the stiches from Kara's forehead was a pair of scissors.

Kara took a few steps. She was starting to think that this wasn't her doctor. Maybe they weren't even a doctor at all.

"Doctor?" Kara asked, stepping back.

Nothing.

Kara hesitated before her next word, but when she said it, she regretted it.

"A?"

The figure then perked up and stopped laughing. The person slowly turned around and Kara was petrified.

A wore their casual black mask, but not the hoodie. They were in Doctor's white robes.

Because of this, Kara got to see that A's hair color was black, and their hair went down to their shoulders in a wavy pattern.

Kara took more steps away out of fear, but she ran into a table and knocked it over.

She made the mistake of looking down at the fallen table, and when she looked back up, A was right on top of her, with something in her hand.

A large syringe.

Kara had no time to react as A shoved the thing into Kara's left leg.

She was out in seconds.

* * *

Kara jolted upright in heavy breath as she frantically looked around the room.

She didn't know where she was at first, but then the smell hit her.

She was in one of those handicapped bathrooms, the one that only one person could use at a time.

She was sprawled out on the floor.

Kara gagged as she stood up and then she felt the soreness of her leg kick in.

She looked down at her leg. She poked it and when she did so, it felt as if a thousand needles were being injected into her.

She grunted when she did this and then she stopped to take a few breaths.

When the pain was pretty much gone, Kara gathered up the strength to start walking.

Each step felt like she was walking on hot coals, but she managed to get to the sink and mirror.

Kara looked at herself. She looked worn out and tired. Also, she had a bandage on her forehead where her stiches where.

She put a hand up and touched the bandage. Even more pain came from that. Kara then concluded that A must have taken Kara's stiches out after they drugged her, but why would they do that?

Kara then remembered the A thing. She remembered every second. Most importantly, that it was a girl.

Kara remembered her black hair and its length. This could be useful, but a _lot_ of people in Rosewood had black hair. And who knows, this A could have been a helper and not the leader A.

Kara looked at the door and she began to slowly walk to it while the pain shot at her leg again.

She opened the door to the musty bathroom and the bright lights of the hospital blinded her.

Her eyes quickly adjusted and she realized that she was in a waiting room, the same one she waited in when her Zoe and Anna got in the accident.

This also meant that if Kara's parents were still at the hospital, they were all the way across the building.

Kara took a deep breath and then made the long walk to the other waiting room.

After only a few painful steps, Kara heard her name get called.

She turned around to see Owen standing up.

She let out a relieved breath and then she painfully limped over to him.

He noticed the limp right away and then he quickly sped walked over to Kara.

When the two were together, they hugged and Owen said into her ear, "Hey, are you okay? I remembered that you were getting your stitches out so I wanted to come surprise you but I didn't know what room you were in."

Kara broke apart from Owen and she smiled at him. "Thank you."

"And why are you limping?" He asked, pointing to Kara's leg.

Kara grabbed Owen's shoulder and directed him towards the hallway. She would tell him, but she didn't want to waste any time finding her parents.

"I was supposed to get my stitches out." Kara said as she painfully walked down the hallway. She was good at hiding the pain though.

Owen stared at her forehead where the bandage were. He didn't say anything though.

Kara continued. "I went to the room and everything seemed normal at first, but then the doctor got there."

Owen stopped walking. "What did the doctor-"

Kara grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. "Keep walking." She said.

He listened.

"I kept asking the doctor questions but they wouldn't respond."

Kara looked at Owen's face. He seemed confused and concerned but he stayed silent and allowed Kara to continue her story.

"I noticed that the doctor wasn't doing what they were supposed to, so I took a long shot and called the doctor A."

Owen stopped walking again. "A?"

Kara gave him a look that reminded him to keep walking.

"Yes, A." Kara said.

Kara was scared to tell Owen this. After all, A was the reason why Owen left Kara in the first place, and Kara was scared that he might do it again. But she trusted him, so she continued.

"They finally turned around and looked at me. They were laughing this hideous laugh and they were wearing…" Kara trailed off as a nurse passed the two. She waited until she was out of ear shot.

"They were wearing the A mask." Kara said. This time, _she_ stopped walking because the next corner the two would turn would lead them to her parent's, and it's not like Kara could forget how her parents feel about Owen.

Owen's face was full of concern. "What did you do?"

"Well, I made sure to get a good look. If this was A, I wanted to make sure what they looked like. So I looked at them and found out that A is a tall female with black hair." Kara said. "I also saw that they were carrying a huge syringe." She finished. She hated retelling the story. It happened not that long ago and it scared Kara knowing that A could be somewhere in the building still.

"I tripped over a table and A took the opportunity to inject me with what was in the syringe." Kara finished.

Owen reached out his hand and grabbed Kara's.

"Are you okay, what did they do to you?" He asked frantically.

"I don't know." Kara answered. That scared her to. "But I do know that they took out my stitches." She said, pointing to the large bandage.

"Have you looked at it yet?" Owen asked.

"No. I woke up in the bathroom ten minutes ago and then when I came out I found you." Kara said.

"A dropped you off in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, I guess they figured that nobody would find me there." Kara said, looking around.

She looked at everyone in the hallway with black hair. There was a few, but none of them had the same body shape as the one who attacked Kara.

Owen followed her eyes. "Do you think it's one of them?"

Kara shook her head. "No."

"No what?"

Kara jumped and turned around to see her mother.

"Mom?" Kara asked. She looked frantically between her mother and Owen.

"Hi, Mrs. Rivers." Owen said smoothly.

"Hi, Owen." Hanna said in her fake sweet voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I would come see Kara. I remembered that she was getting her stitches out today." He said smoothly. He was speaking as if Kara had never told him how A attacked her.

Hanna slowly nodded and then directed her gaze towards Kara.

"The doctor cleared you almost an hour ago. What were you doing?" Hanna asked. She flicked her eyes over at Owen for a millisecond. She must've known that Kara was with Owen. There was also the fact that she caught the two together.

"My room was far away and I got lost on my way back, and then I ran into Owen and he was helping me get back." Kara said smoothly. She was surprised at how believable she sounded.

"Okay, well I'll take it from here, thanks Owen." Hanna said, fake smiling.

Owen didn't seem to notice. He turned to Kara.

"I'll see you later." He said. He then leaned in to kiss Kara on the cheek, but she quickly blocked this and gave him a quick hug.

Owen seemed offended at first, but then he seemed to be fine again. He must've thought that Kara didn't want to kiss in front of her mother.

"Bye." He said to the both of them. He then walked away.

"Bye, Owen." Kara and her mother said.

Hanna then put a hand on Kara shoulder and then led her to the nearest exit.

"Come on, your father is already in the car." Hanna said.

Kara used her mother's arm around her as an advantage and she was able to hide her limp a little bit.

Hanna and Kara exited the hospital and she quickly saw her father parked near the exit.

When Kara and Hanna got in the car, Caleb said,

"So how was it?"

"It was fine. It didn't hurt at all and it was pretty quick. I got lost though and that's why it took so long." Kara lied again.

"That's good." Caleb said. He then began to drive the car.

"The doctor gave us spare bandages for your forehead and we need to change them every five hours." Hanna said, turning back in her seat to look at Kara. She then handed her a vanilla envelope.

Kara grabbed it and looked inside. How did they get this stuff? Yeah, they said that the doctor gave the envelope to them but what doctor?

Was it A but without the mask? It had to have been.

Kara considered asking what the doctor looked like, but then it would be obvious that something was up, and Kara was not going to tell her parents a thing.

If what Anna had said about their parents being "fair game" then Kara wasn't going to tell them something as big as A attacking her.

The family then turned down a bumpy road.

The shaking of the car was causing more pain in Kara's leg. She wondered if there was a mark from where A plunged the syringe into her.

She lifted up her pant led until it was just above the knee cap.

Kara saw a red Band-Aid had replaced her skin in the area of pain.

She looked at it and read the message.

 _ **Get better soon, Bitch.**_

It wasn't signed, but it was obvious who it was from.

Kara read the message one more time, and then she ripped it off. She almost grunted from the pain but she remained silent.

Kara looked at her leg. A small red injection dot was under the Band-Aid.

What did A do to her?

* * *

Zoe rubbed her sweaty palm on her pants. She was extremely nervous.

She's had her cast on for a few months now and she had an appointment today to see if she could get it off anytime soon.

The thing Zoe was most nervous for was if the doctors would say that Zoe had to keep it on for even longer than they said at first. Zoe hasn't exactly been laying low like she was told. She walked up the stairs with Rose for Pete's sake.

She was nervous that the doctors would know somehow, or maybe something worse.

What is Zoe had damaged her leg even more? Her leg _had_ been throbbing lately.

Zoe put her hands on her wheelchair's wheels and they slid off when she pushed. Her hands were full of sweat again.

She grunted and wiped them off on her pants again.

She wheeled out of her room and looked around. That's all she could really do in the chair: look.

Her eyes stopped on an object that Zoe had never seen before.

Zoe wheeled over to the coffee table in the middle of the main room and grabbed the object.

It was a snow globe. Inside was a little man in front of a leafless tree holding a golf club.

Zoe shook it and when she did, thousands of amber flakes flew around the scene. When all the flakes stopped whirling around, she shook it again.

Watching the little flakes swoosh around the snow globe calmed Zoe down. She noticed that her hands stopped sweating.

"What are you doing?"

Zoe jumped pretty hard and almost dropped the snow globe. She looked behind her shoulder and saw Alison standing behind her.

Zoe held up the snow globe to show Ali. "I found this." She said.

Alison smirked as she walked towards Zoe and looked at the snow globe.

"That used to be mine." She said as she sat down on the couch behind Zoe.

Zoe looked at the thing and shook it. "Really?"

"Well actually, it was my grandmothers but I stole it from her and then I gave it to your mother." Alison said.

Zoe wheeled herself around so she could face her mom. "And we still have it?"

"To be honest, I didn't know your mother kept it." Alison said. She held out her hand and then Zoe handed her the snow globe. Alison grabbed it and studied it.

"When did you give it to mom?" Zoe asked.

"When we were about your age. It was back when I was…" She paused. "'Dead.'" She finished.

Zoe noticed how sad her mother's face looked when she said this. Zoe didn't judge her mom for pretending to be dead during her time with A. A is a terrible person and if being dead was the only way out of it, Zoe wasn't surprised that Alison would go through such extreme measures.

"Was it before or after you came back?" Zoe asked.

"Before." Alison said. She shook the snow globe. "But I snuck a key into the bottom." Alison said.

Zoe scrunched her eyebrows up as she watched her mother turn the snow globe upside down and pull back the felt on the stand. There was an empty hollow hole under it.

"A key?" Zoe asked. She adjusted herself so she could see it better.

"Yeah. It was a key to a storage locker." Alison said as she handed the glass object back to Zoe.

"What was in the storage locker?" Zoe asked as she stared into the hole.

"A flash drive."

Zoe looked up at her mother. "What was on it?"

"A bunch of videos of your mother, Spencer, Hanna, Aria and I."

Zoe sat up straight. "Did A take them like they did for Anna, Kara, Rose and I?"

Ali shook her head. "No."

"Then who took them?"

"That's too long of a story. All you need to know is that I gave that snow globe to Emily as both a hint and as a present. I disappeared the night I gave it to her."

Zoe didn't know what to say. This snow globe was years old and for some reason it was still in her parent's possession.

"Wow." Was all Zoe was able to get out.

"Why does mom still have it?" Zoe asked, looking at the little man inside.

"I still have it because it was one of the first things your mother gave me."

Zoe looked up and noticed that Emily had entered the room as well. Alison turned around as soon as she heard Emily's voice.

"I've given you other things," Alison said. "And I don't see any of them lying around."

Emily walked to the two and said, "That's because that snow globe is special. You stole it for me." Emily said, standing behind the couch.

"From my grandmother!" Alison said with sarcasm.

Emily smiled down at her wife. "Well I love it and I've loved it since the moment you gave it to me and I've always kept it hidden because I knew that you would question me."

"That's because I'm surprised you have anything that old." Alison said, standing up.

Zoe looked up at her parents and smiled. She remembered that she was supposed to be mad at them, but at moments like this, she couldn't help but be happy.

She looked at the scene in front of her and felt a wave of happiness rush over her.

Somehow, the snow globe managed to strike the fear out of Zoe about her leg and the anger she felt for her parents.

It made her feel calm.

Zoe looked down at the thing and remembered what Rose had said about a comfort object and how it would make Zoe feel better.

So far, the snow globe has been the only thing to change Zoe's emotions so fast.

Zoe looked back up at her parents who were still talking about the snow globe and waited for them to finish their sentences.

"Can I keep this in my room?" Zoe asked when there was a moment of silence.

Her moms looked at her.

"Please?" Zoe asked. "When I look at it, it reminds me of happier times and I really want it in my room so I always feel the way I do right now." She pleaded.

"Of course you can keep it." Emily said without thinking. "If it really makes you feel that way.

Zoe smiled and opened her arms wide, signaling for her parents to hug her and they did. Zoe squeezed her grip around both of them.

When they broke apart, Zoe heard Alison say, "Oh my god!" almost immediately after they broke apart.

"What?" Zoe asked when Alison frantically started walking across the room.

"We're going to be late for your appointment, Zoe." Alison said, grabbing her purse.

Both Zoe and Emily looked at the clock and Zoe's eyes widened.

Their appointment was in fifteen minutes and it was at least a ten minuet drive to the hospital. And if Zoe missed her appointment, she wouldn't be able to see the doctor for another two weeks and that could _not_ happen.

Zoe began to frantically wheel towards the door with Emily close on her heels.

There were about three minutes of frantic movement and shouts of "Hurry up we gotta go!" until the three women were in the car driving to the hospital.

They were practically speeding the entire way there.

They arrived at the hospital with six minutes to spare.

The three were all out of breath when they signed in and the sign-in lady gave the three weird looks, but she was smart enough to not say anything.

Alison, Emily and Zoe then settled in the waiting room and waited for a nurse to call Zoe's name.

Zoe started to shake her good leg as she anxiously awaited but she overall felt calm.

She looked down and almost started to laugh.

She turned to her moms. "Hey." She called to them.

They looked over at Zoe.

"I still have the snow globe." Zoe said as she held up the snow globe with a slight laugh.

The two also chuckled.

"You better not lose that." Emily said sarcastically.

Zoe rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I won't."

"I saw Kara's name when we checked you in." Alison said after a moment of silence.

"You did?" Emily questioned. "I wonder if everything is alright."

Zoe tried to think of a reason why Kara would be here and she remembered after a while.

"She must've gotten her stitches out." Zoe said.

"Already? God, the past few months have gone by fast." Emily said.

Not for Zoe. It felt like Zoe had been in her chair for at least a year.

"Zoe DiLafields." A nurse called from across the waiting room.

Zoe looked up at her and made eye-contact.

"The doctor is ready for you." The nurse said.

Emily and Alison both got up and Alison pushed the back of Zoe's wheelchair.

The family and the nurse entered one of the first rooms in the long hallway.

When they stepped into the room, Zoe was surprised to see that the doctor was already in the room waiting for them.

"Hi, Zoe." The doctor, the same one who Zoe talked to when she was in the hospital the night of the crash, said.

"Hi." Zoe replied, shaking her hand. The doctor then shook both Alison and Emily's hands.

"Well let's get right into it." The doctor said. "You should be just about done with your cast, Zoe, but we'll have to take some X-rays just to be sure, but we are pretty sure you should be fine." She finished.

The doctor then walked up to Zoe. "Do you mind if I take her to the cat scan machine?" She asked Zoe's parents.

"Yeah, go ahead." The two answered.

The nurse nodded and before she wheeled Zoe away, she handed the snow globe to Emily. As soon as it was out of her hand, Zoe felt nervous again. Then the doctor wheeled Zoe down a few hallways and into a room with a huge machine in it.

"You probably don't remember this machine since the last time you were in it you were unconscious from the crash." The doctor said, wheeling Zoe over to the machine.

"I was in this?" Zoe asked, looking at the thing.

"Yup." The doctor said as she helped Zoe into a hospital gown and then onto the machine.

When Zoe was on it, the doctor moved over to a panel of buttons and began pushing them.

"Have you been feeling any pain in your leg recently?" The doctor asked.

"It's been throbbing but it doesn't hurt." Zoe answered honestly.

"Okay…" The doctor said in no particular tone.

"Now, Zoe, I'm going to have to ask you to be completely still while you're in the machine or else we won't get a proper X-ray."

"Okay." Zoe said.

"Alright." The nurse said. "Here we go." She then pushed a button and Zoe started moving towards the machine. Zoe closed her eyes as her body entered it.

Zoe didn't know how long she was in there, but it was long enough for her to lose track of time.

The machine spit Zoe back out and then she sat up with stiff bones.

"Alright, we're all good." The nurse said, helping Zoe down back into her chair.

"So when can I get my cast off?" Zoe asked anxiously.

"We won't be able to tell the conditions of your leg until later tonight."

"What?" Zoe asked in a loud tone.

"X-rays don't process right away." The doctor said, wheeling Zoe back to her hospital room.

"So when will I find out?"

"Soon, Zoe. We'll call you when we find out." The doctor said, pushing open the door.

Zoe was silent as she entered the room.

"We'll give you a call as soon as we figure out the conditions of Zoe's leg." The doctor said to Zoe's parents.

Her parents smiled. "Thank you, doctor." Alison said, shaking her hand again. Emily soon followed.

Zoe zoned out the rest of the conversation. Her heart was broken. She wanted nothing more than to her the words that meant that she could get out of the stupid wheelchair.

When the family got in the car, Zoe reached out and grabbed the snow globe from Emily's hand.

Zoe shook it and watched the flakes. It didn't make her as happy as it did before, but it did calm her down a little.

When the DiLafields finally got home, Zoe made sure she was always near a phone.

She was there for hours, she didn't even bother to use the bathroom or eat anything.

"Zoe, they'll call." Alison said from behind Zoe.

"And I don't want to miss it." Zoe said, gripping down hard on the snow globe.

"You won't miss it, just please step away from the phone."

"I can't take a step remember?" Zoe said with attitude in her voice.

Zoe heard her mother sigh from behind her. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, I know what you mean and I am not moving." Zoe said, refusing to take her eyes of the phone.

"Zoe, you looking at it is not going to make it ring." Alison said.

Zoe didn't reply.

"I didn't want it to come down to this." Alison said after a moment of silence.

"Come down to what?" Zoe immediately felt a tug on the back of her chair and she realized that her mother was wheeling her away.

"Mom, stop!" Zoe called, grabbing onto the couch.

"No, you need to relax." Alison said, pushing her into another room.

Zoe turned around and glared at her mom.

"There is nothing for me to do in this dumb chair so it you would just let me-"

Zoe's sentence was cut off by a distant ringing.

Zoe wheeled to the phone and looked at the caller ID.

It was the hospital.

The call had finally come.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Anna's mother asked again.

Anna shook her head. "Nothing, mom."

"You keep saying that but all you're doing is moping." Spencer said, ripping Anna's blanket off of her.

The cold hit her bare legs and it resulted in Anna bringing her legs up to her chest and hugging them.

"I was using that." Anna said, glaring at her mother.

"Well, now I'm folding it." Spencer said with a smirk as she folded the blanket up.

Anna rolled her eyes as she looked out the nearest window. She started to fiddle with her bracelet as she wondered what Dylan was doing. Was he with Chelsey? Or was he alone in a room trying to solve the A mystery even after Anna told him not to?

"Anna!" Spencer called, poking her daughter.

Anna tensed up as she looked at her mother. "What?"

"I've called your name three times." Spencer said with a weird look on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't hear." Anna said, twiddling her thumbs.

"You seem pretty distracted lately." Spencer said, putting the now folded blanket onto the couch. She hesitated before she spoke again. "Is it something to do with A?"

"No!" Anna said a little too abruptly.

Spencer looked at Anna with suspicion. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Anna said, putting her head in her hands.

"Just know that your father and I are here to help." She said, putting a hand on Anna's shoulder.

"I know." Anna said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Spencer asked when Anna started to walk away.

Anna turned back around to look at her mother. "For a walk. I just really want some fresh air."

Spencer looked her daughter up and down. "Okay." She said suspiciously.

Anna ignored this as she walked out her front door and down the street. She didn't need a jacket. It was warm enough to where she didn't need to wear them anymore.

Anna kept walking and she eventually found herself on Main Street. She looked up at the sky and saw rain clouds. From the looks of them, it looked like Anna had an hour before it started to rain.

She turned her attention back onto the street. She walked some more until she stood in front a familiar shop.

Anna recognized it as the abandoned costume shop that she and Dylan saw Brendon go into.

She tried to look through the windows, but they were too dusty to look through.

She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, and when nobody was, she pushed on the door.

It was unlocked and it opened easily. Probably since Brendon has gone in here before. Just how many times exactly?

Anna walked into the shop and could barely see anything. The only light came from the open door.

As soon as Anna finished her thought, the door closed behind her. She didn't know if someone shut it, or if the weight itself closed it. She hoped it was the second one.

With the room now pitch black, she was left completely blind.

She put her hands out in front of her and took a few steps. All Anna could think about was why did Brendon come here? What was he doing and how did he mange to see anything?

Anna then felt her arms brush against something soft. She stopped walking and felt the thing more. It felt like clothes.

Anna then reached down in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She turned on the flash and began to move it towards her face.

When she saw the object that shone in the light, she screamed.

It was a person, or at least it looked like a person.

When Anna screamed, she dropped her phone so she was left in the dark again. She remained as quite as she could as she bent down and searched for her phone.

She found it after a few seconds of searching and she slowly brought the light back up to the figure.

She released a sigh of relief when she realized that it was only a mask.

It looked like a baby, but it was all white and had stitches running along the ends. There was also a creepy brown head piece that wrapped around it.

Anna was relieved that it wasn't a person, but the thing creeped her out so she stepped away from it.

She continued to walk through the shop as she got scared with an occasional mask here and there.

She reached the back of the store and was met with a wall.

She turned back around and looked at the store. "Why would he come here?" She said to herself.

Anna knew that nobody would answer, but it was too quiet in there and the sound of her own voice was comforting.

Anna decided that there was nothing else to see so she began to make her way back to the entrance, but she tripped on something and fell down.

"Uggg." Anna groaned. She landed weird on her arm and she was almost positive that she would have a bruise there.

She took her phone and looked down to see what she tripped on and noticed that it was an electrical cable.

Anna got up and began following the cable. Anna stopped when it went under a door to another room.

She hesitated, but she knew that this cable was somehow important. Why would there be an electrical cable running along the floor of an abandoned costume shop?

Anna gathered enough courage to open the door and when opened it she was immediately disappointed. It led to another dark and empty room. It seemed like Anna was now in a conference room or something.

She looked down and saw that the cable still continued to run along the floor, so she continued to follow it.

She found herself behind another door. Without hesitating this time, Anna swung the doors open.

Anna was shocked to see a flight of stairs. She wanted to turn around and leave, that would be the most rational option, but the cord continued down the stairs, and she didn't come all this way to not see what it was.

She took the first step and the stair gave off a loud squeak that echoed throughout the entire store.

She cringed at the sound. If there was anyone down there, they for sure knew that someone else was in the building.

Anna took another cautious step and the same squeaking noise sounded just as loud.

Realizing that it was pointless to try to be quiet, Anna went down the steps normally and she just wished that nobody was down there.

She made it down to the last stair and she looked at the wall. She saw a light switch. If there was a cable running along the building, that had to mean that there was electricity, so the place _has_ to have power.

She flicked the switch up and was happy to see a dim light light up the hallway.

Anna put her phone back in her pocket and continued to follow the cable. She walked slowly and always hesitated when she turned every corner.

She turned the last corner and gasped.

She was now in a large room. Every wall was full of pictures. Pictures of Anna, Kara, Zoe, Rose and their families.

Anna also saw a variety of weapons. A knife, a gun, there was even a chainsaw.

Anna felt her palms get sweaty. Where was she?

She took a few steps forwards as she noticed something hanging up on a coat rack.

It was a black hoodie.

Anna walked up to it and grabbed it. It was _definitely_ the hoodie that A wears. Anna looked down and saw that right next to the coat rack was a pair of black boots.

Anna turned around and walked around the room with the hoodie still in her hand. Scattered around the floor were multiple black gloves and other black things. There were even a few wigs. She saw a black one, a blonde one, even a red one.

Anna stopped when she reached a huge computer monitor. There were at least ten different computer monitors all turned off.

She looked down and spotted the large cable hooked up to the computers. Anna looked and saw that it lead out of the room and it was the same cable that she had been following.

Anna turned back to the monitors and she pushed out the chair to the desk to sit down.

She was about to sit down but she stopped when she saw something on the chair. It was the very famous A mask. The plain black mask that completed the look.

Anna studied the mask until a loud noise startled her. She dropped the mask and hoodie out of fear and she looked up and saw that all the computers had turned on.

Anna stared at them and she saw the park, the outside of the costume shop, Main Street, and the Brew. There was also shots of all the girls houses. But the one that scared her the most was the camera that was pointed to Anna's back.

She stared at it and felt her hands start to shake.

Anna turned around and it was then that she noticed the camera positioned in the top left corner of the room.

Anna was scared. There was no doubt that A knew that she was in their lair.

Another loud sound came from the computers.

Anna turned around to see that one of the video's had changed.

Instead of seeing the park, Anna now saw the police station.

Anna looked at it and immediately spotted her dad. It was pretty easy since he was the only one in the room.

A did to. They started to zoom in on him.

Anna gripped the back of the chair so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Toby turned his back to the camera and started to work on something.

Anna watched in fear as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

She grabbed it and looked at the text.

 _ **I have a knife. Leave and don't tell anyone about this and I'll leave your dad alone.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna put her phone down and stared at the cameras again.

She was too scared to not look away.

Anna watched as someone else entered the room. Her heart dropped when she saw the all black figure silently start to creep up behind Toby.

And they pulled out a knife.

"Stop!" Anna screamed, backing up.

A continued to walk towards Toby.

"I'm leaving!" Anna screamed hysterically, backing up towards the exit.

A kept walking.

"I'M LEAVING!" She screamed. She didn't know if A could hear her, but she screamed anyways.

A was only a few feet behind Toby when they stopped moving and backed away.

Anna wiped away her tears and took deep breaths. She was getting too overwhelmed and she needed to get out of that place.

She ran up the stairs and to the entrance of the store. She pushed open the door and ran outside.

Anna was greeted with the rain. She looked up at the sky and saw the dark storm clouds were now above her.

Anna wiped her eyes again and ran across the street into the park.

She slumped over on the nearest park bench and cried.

How could she not tell anyone about this? Anna had found A's lair and she had to keep it a secret or someone was going to die.

All these thoughts were spinning in Anna's head. But there was one that stuck out.

Anna had found A's lair, but she only found it because of her curiosity on why Brendon was in the building.

And then Anna felt her stomach do a backflip.

Brendon was the one who was in the store. Why would he go in there.

Could Brendon be A?

Anna wasn't sure what to believe.

* * *

 **AN: Hehehehe I hope you liked chapter 31.**

 **Please remember to review and ask questions and leave suggestions!**

 **I really appreciate everything you guys send in!**

 **Thanks! I love you all!**

 **-Jessica**


	34. CrAzy

**AN: I'm getting really bad at writing these Anons xD**

 **Nina. marinkovic2000 followed and favorited! Thank you so much!**

 **Anyways, let's just get on to the chapter!**

* * *

Zoe anxiously waited for her mother Emily to hang up the phone with the doctor.

She had reached it before Zoe, but she was actually kind of happy because if the call was bad news, Zoe didn't know how she would take it.

She hoped that she didn't have to find out.

Zoe watched Emily's facial expressions. It was hard to read them. At some moments, she looked happy and then at other times she seemed confused and disappointed.

It felt like forever when Emily finally hung up the phone.

She looked at Zoe and Alison with her lower lip tucked in. She looked anxious and that made Zoe want to throw up.

"What did they say?" Alison asked.

Zoe leaned forward in her seat as she waited for her mother to deliver the news.

Emily's mouth extended into a smile. "You can get your cast off in a week!" She said happily.

Alison gave a giggly yell while Zoe sat in her seat speechless. She was extremely happy and she had no idea how to express it.

She tried her best but it only came out as a high pitched squeak.

"But you will still have to wear the leg brace." Emily said when she was done squealing.

"It doesn't matter; I'll be able to walk!" Zoe said. She put her scrunched up hands to her mouth and squealed again.

Alison still hadn't stopped yelling from her excitement.

Emily laughed at her.

Zoe looked down at her tattooed cast. "Sayonara, sucker."

She wondered when she should tell Kara, Anna and Rose. Zoe came to the conclusion that she wouldn't tell them, and that she would surprise them by walking into school or something.

"What are we celebrating for?"

Zoe turned her head to see Jason standing in the walkway to the main room.

"Jason!" Alison said, running to him and hugging him. He hugged back. "Hey, Ali."

"Why didn't you call saying you were on your way?" Alison asked.

"I texted but I guess nobody heard from all the commotion." He said, looking at Zoe and Emily.

Emily walked up to Jason and gave him a short hug. "We just found out that Zoe can get her cast off in a week."

He looked at Zoe. "Wow, congrats, Zoe."

Zoe wheeled over to him and smiled. "Thanks, Jason." She said as he leaned down to hug her. She hugged back.

"I guess I came at the perfect moment." He said, grabbing the handle of his suitcase.

Emily smiled. "You can stay up in Zoe's room for now until she gets her cast off and is able to go up the stairs."

Jason nodded his head. "Okay, I'm down with that."

"Great. Do you need help with your bags?" Alison asked, nodding over to the few suitcase.

"Oh no, I can take them up myself." He said. "But thanks."

Zoe then watched as he went upstairs to her old room carrying two suitcases at a time.

Zoe looked down at her cast again. Jason hadn't signed it yet. Last time she saw him was when she first found out that Jason was her biological father.

He came back down the stairs after a few minutes and he caught Zoe staring at him.

"What?" He asked politely.

Zoe looked down as she twiddled her fingers. "Can you sign my cast?"

He smiled with a look of warmth on his face. "Of course I will."

Zoe looked up at her mothers, who were staring at Zoe and Jason in awe. Then Emily seemed to snap out of her trance.

"I'll go get a sharpie." She said as she quickly walked out of the room and returned seconds later with a marker. She handed it to Jason.

He then knelt down and began to sign Zoe's cast with his blotchy handwriting. He then hesitated when he was going to sign his name. Zoe knew why. He was probably deciding on whether to put "Jason" or "Dad."

He went with dad.

Zoe looked at what he wrote.

 _Be safe._

 _-Dad_

It was simple and to the point, and Zoe liked it especially because he didn't write "get better soon" or something like that. But Zoe couldn't help but stare at "dad." It was then that she realized that she had never once called Jason "dad."

"I hope you don't mind." Jason said when he saw Zoe staring at the word.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I don't. Thanks." She said calmly.

"We'll give you two some time to catch up." Alison said, grabbing Emily's arm.

"Yeah, we'll be in our room if you need us." Emily finished.

Zoe nodded her head. "Okay."

The two then smiled and then headed up the stairs to their room.

"So are you excited to get your cast off?" Jason asked as he sat down next to Zoe on the couch.

"Yes!" She said excitedly. "It'll be so nice to actually walk around, with the help of a metal brace, but still. It's better than nothing." Zoe said, smiling. Just the thought of her taking a few steps made Zoe feel warm inside.

Jason smiled to. "It's good to see that you're thinking on the positive side."

It was nice. It seemed like every time something good happened in Zoe's life, something worse came to back it up.

It was then that Zoe heard a scream come from outside. Both of Zoe and Jason's smile's dropped.

"Was that Anna?" Jason asked.

"I don't know." Zoe said, wheeling to her room. She would be able to see the Cavanaugh's house from her window.

Jason followed Zoe to her room. She frantically wheeled over to her window and she was going so fast that she almost ran into the wall. When she did stop, it Zoe tried her best to see through the pouring rain.

The only thing she could make out was a person pinning down another person.

"What is going on?" Jason asked as he stood over Zoe's shoulder.

Zoe didn't reply. She couldn't take her focus off of the scene. She watched as the person picked up the other and dragged them back into the house.

Zoe waited until she saw the light in Anna's room come on. When she did, Zoe sent Anna a quick text.

 **Everything okay? There's a lot of commotion at your house.**

 **-Zoe**

She waited impatiently for a reply. It wasn't that long until Zoe's phone buzzed again.

 **No.**

 **-Anna**

Immediately, Zoe started a group chat with Kara and Rose. She quickly typed up:

 **Get to Anna's ASAP!**

 **-Zoe**

Not long after the message sent, Zoe got a reply.

 **Coming.**

 **-Rose**

 **Leaving now.**

 **-Kara**

Once Zoe saw these texts, she quickly sent back:

 **I texted Kara and Rose. We're all on our way over.**

 **-Zoe**

Zoe then took a deep breath and looked up at her father. He was reading Zoe's texts over her shoulder.

"C'mon, I'll drive you." He said, grabbing the back of Zoe's wheelchair.

"Her house is across the street, I can wheel myself over there." Zoe said, looking up at him.

He stared at Zoe as if he was questioning what he was about to say.

"I'll cover for you." He eventually said. "Just make sure you tell me if Anna is okay."

Zoe smiled. "I will." She then turned to the door and started to head out. Jason was behind her.

The rain made it kind of difficult, but Zoe was used to the wheelchair after being in it for months.

Also, Zoe knew that Jason was watching her so if anything happened, he would be there to save her.

Before Zoe crossed the street, she saw Rose's car pull onto the street and into Anna's driveway.

Rose and Kara got out.

Kara saw Zoe and she ran across the street, grabbed the back of Zoe's wheelchair, and rolled her over to Anna's house.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. There was a lot of commotion and when I asked Anna if she was okay she said no, and if she says something is wrong than something is really wrong." Zoe said as they made their way to the front door.

Rose and Kara had looks of concern on their faces and they hesitated to knock on the door.

Zoe impatiently knocked on it for them.

Both Spencer and Toby were at the door and they both looked exhausted.

"Hi." Zoe said with a weird tone. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Can we please talk to Anna?" Kara asked quickly after Zoe spoke.

Spencer shook her head and let out a sign. "Right now isn't a good time."

"Please"." Kara pleaded.

Anna's parents looked at each other as they decided if they should let the girls in.

Zoe crossed her fingers.

After a few seconds, Toby looked at the girls. "Stay here." He said. Then he made his way up the stairs.

Zoe felt her heart race as she waited for Anna.

She hoped she was okay.

* * *

 **(Earlier)**

Anna came home with red puffy eyes and sopping wet clothes.

When she walked into the house, she slammed the door loudly and kicked off her shoes.

"Anna?" She heard her mother yell from the other room.

Anna didn't reply. She really didn't want to talk to her mom.

She tried to best to dry herself off before she walked on the hardwood floor but she wasn't able to do so in time. He mother entered the hallway and saw Anna.

"Oh god you must be freezing." Spencer said as she made her way to Anna.

Anna couldn't care less about her body's warmth. All she wanted was to be left alone.

Anna's mother finally reached Anna and she finally got a good look at her face.

"Honey, are you okay?" Spencer asked when she noticed Anna's puffy eyes. She grabbed onto Anna's face.

Anna sniffled as she remembered what she had just witnessed.

"Where's dad?" Anna asked, pushing her mother's hands away.

"At work but he should be home any minuet." Spencer said.

Anna nodded her head and began to walk off. She soon felt her mother's hand around her wrist.

"Anna, wait." She said.

Anna turned around and looked at her mom.

"What's wrong, what happened?"

"Nothing, I'm okay mom, really." Anna said in a stuffy voice.

Spencer looked at her daughter unconvinced.

Anna then pulled her wrist out of her mother's grasp and she looked at it.

Where was her bracelet?

Anna looked at her other wrist and was sad to see that it was also bare.

"Where is it?" Anna whispered to herself.

She tried to remember the last time she remembered putting it on. It was this morning.

Did Anna have it on when she was in A's lair? She couldn't remember.

Anna put her hands through her hair. "No…no…no…no…" She mumbled over and over.

Anna almost forgot that her mother was still there. "Anna what's wro-"

She didn't let her mom finish her sentence before she ran up the stairs. She threw her door open and began to rip through her drawers.

As she did this, she heard her mother's footsteps racing up the steps. "Anna!" She was calling out.

"Where is it?" Anna grunted angrily when she didn't find the bracelet Dylan gave her in her drawers. She then moved on to her dirty clothes bin. Maybe it fell in there.

She felt a sob in her throat when she reached the bottom of the bin.

"Anna, stop!" Spencer called from the doorway.

Anna didn't turn to look at her. Instead she went to her jewelry box. She didn't go in there very often so she doubted that the bracelet would be in there, but it was worth a shot.

Anna then felt a hand on her shoulder. "Anna, calm down." It was her mother. She spoke in a gentle voice.

Anna turned around and looked at her mom with crazy eyes. "I can't!" She yelled.

Spencer stared back at her with a hurt look.

Anna grunted and turned back to the jewelry box. It wasn't in there.

"Oh, come on." Anna pouted.

"What are you trying to find, maybe I can help you." Spencer said, following Anna around the room.

"It would help if you would just leave me alone!" Anna said, turning to her mother.

"I'm worried about you!" Spencer said in a loud tone. "You've been acting strange lately and I'm scared that you're doing something you're not supposed to."

What was that supposed to mean? Anna ignored it.

She shoved past her mom and went to the bathroom. She always took the bracelet off when she washed her hands, so maybe she left it there. It was nowhere to be seen.

It was nowhere in the house. Then Anna had an awful thought. What if it fell off when she was outside? The rain made her wrist wet and slippery so maybe when she was running it fell off.

What if it was in A's lair?

Anna felt her body start to shake.

She walked into the hallway and began to make her way down the stairs with her mother close behind her.

"Anna, stop!" Spencer was calling.

Anna ignored her again and continued to walk away.

Brendon then appeared around the corner. "What the heck is going on?"

Anna glared at him. She remembered the lair and how Brendon snuck into the building.

"Go to hell." Anna snarled.

"Anna!" Spencer scolded as she grabbed Anna's wrist again.

Brendon stared at Anna with a shocked impression but she knew it was an act. He had to have known about the lair. How could he not?

Anna then turned back to her mother. "Let me go."

"No, you listen to me right now. You're going to tell me what the hell is going on and then you are going to go to your room and cooperate until I figure out how I can punish you." Spencer directed, gripping Anna's wrist even tighter.

She easily broke from her mother's grip. Her wrist was still wet from the rain.

She turned away from her mother and brother without a word and headed for the door.

She needed her bracelet and she would retrace her steps from the past twenty four hours. She would even go back to A's lair if she had to.

Her mother and brother were calling after her as she walked off, but she didn't listen. Anna didn't know why Brendon was acting concerned. He obviously didn't care about her if he was working with A.

And her mother just didn't understand. Anna didn't know what her mother thought, but she should just trust Anna.

"Anna, stop! What is wrong with you?" Spencer called out.

Anna turned around to look at her. Spencer stood in place. She didn't try to chase after her anymore.

"I need to find my bracelet." Anna said as her voice cracked.

A look of disbelief fell over her mother's face. "All this over a bracelet?"

Anna glared at her mother. See, she didn't understand. She never would.

Anna turned back around and opened the door.

It was still pouring outside but she didn't care. She had to find her bracelet before A did.

As Anna stomped down the muddy front lawn, she saw her father pull into the driveway.

He stepped out and looked at Anna with a questioning look. "Anna?" He yelled over the rain.

She didn't stop.

"Toby, grab her!" Spencer called from inside the house.

"What?" He called. It was hard to hear over the pouring rain.

"Grab her!" Spencer said with crisp diction.

Anna then began to run. She wasn't going to let anyone stop her. She _needed_ her bracelet.

Anna heard footsteps behind her but she didn't turn to see.

"Hey, Anna, stop!" It was Toby's voice. How dare he try to stop her? He had no idea what was going on.

It wasn't long after Toby called out that Anna felt her father's arms around her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

"Let me go!" She screamed. She started to kick and punch but it was no use. Her father was a brick wall.

"Anna, calm down!" Toby said, lifting her down to the ground.

"Let go of me!" Anna screamed. She tried to bite her father's hands but she couldn't do that without dislocating bones.

Toby gently put her down and twisted her arms behind her. Did he really just pin her?

"Ouch!" Anna called. It didn't really hurt but she wanted her father to feel guilty.

He didn't loosen his grip at all.

He lead her back into the house and back into her room while Anna struggled the whole way.

He dropped her off on the bed and then walked out and locked the door before Anna could get up.

Anna ran to her door and started to bang on it. "Let me out!" She yelled.

No response.

Anna stopped yelling and struggling and put her ear to the door. She heard mumbling but she couldn't make anything out.

Anna then heard her phone buzz. She walked across the room and looked at the text.

 **Everything okay? There's a lot of commotion at your house.**

 **-Zoe**

Anna looked out the window and across the street at Zoe's house. She saw her bedroom light on through the rain.

Anna looked down and texted back.

 **No.**

 **-Anna**

After a few minutes, Anna's phone buzzed again.

 **I texted Kara and Rose. We're all on our way over.**

 **-Zoe**

Anna looked back out the window and saw Zoe's light turn off.

Anna wanted to text back that now wasn't really a good time, but it was pointless.

A short five minutes later, she heard knocks on the door.

The mumbling from downstairs stopped and then Anna heard the front door open.

Anna put her ear up to the door again and tried really hard to hear what was going on.

"-Isn't a good time." Anna heard her mother say.

"Please." It was Kara's voice.

There was a small hesitation.

"Stay here." It was her father's voice. She then heard footsteps going up the stairs.

Anna darted back to her bed and sat down. She started to pick at her blanket and act as if she hadn't heard anything.

She heard a click and then the door opened. Her father then popped his head in.

"Don't run." He said.

"I won't." Anna said calmly. And she wouldn't. Zoe and the others would understand her so she didn't feel the need to struggle.

Toby then opened the door completely and stepped in.

"Zoe, Kara and Rose are here to see you." He said.

"They are?" Anna questioned. She was good at lying.

"Except I have no idea how they knew something was up." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Zoe lives across the street, she probably saw something and texted the others." Anna said. She didn't look her dad in the eye.

Toby sighed. "They want to talk to you in private."

Anna stood up. "Okay." She then walked to the door and passed her dad. She could feel him on her heels making sure that she didn't try to pull anything.

She walked down the stairs and saw the three girls, all with concerned looks on their faces.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Anna turned to her parents and Brendon.

"Can we be alone?" Anna asked.

Her parents nodded hesitantly. "We'll be upstairs." Spencer said, grabbing Toby's hand.

"Just make sure she doesn't freak out again." Brendon said with a smirk.

Anna wanted to punch him but she needed to keep her self-control, so instead of hitting him, she only flicked him off behind her parents back.

He chuckled and made his way up to his room.

Anna then turned back around to face her friends. She nodded to the main room and signaled for them to sit down.

The four then walked, with the exception of Zoe, who wheeled, into the main room.

"Anna, what's up?" Zoe asked once everyone was settled in.

Anna didn't even know where to begin. She began to pick at her fingers as her eyes filled up with tears.

"My family is full of traitors." She said in a wobbly voice.

The three girls seemed confused.

Anna stared at them. She considered telling them about the lair, but that would put them and their families in even more danger.

"I think Brendon is A." Anna said. She figured that she could at least tell them that. "Well, not the _big_ A, but a helper."

Rose shook her head. "Why would you think that?"

"I've seen him sneaking around and he's been pretty sketchy about it." Anna said. She decided that she wouldn't tell them about the lair. Not yet.

"There's not enough evidence." Zoe began. "You'll need more than just that if you're going to accuse him."

Anna stared at her and gave her a look. Zoe stared at Anna and took in the look Anna had sent her and she almost looked scared.

"Well, where was Brendon this afternoon?" Kara asked. She was shaking her leg nervously.

"I don't know." Anna answered. "I wasn't home for half the day."

Kara was silent as she put her head down.

"Why?" Rose asked for everyone.

"I was getting my stitches out earlier and…" Kara trialed off.

Anna walked towards Kara who was sitting on the love sofa. "And what?" Anna questioned.

"A drugged me." Kara finished.

"A drugged you!" Zoe said frantically. Anna was speechless. It seemed everyone was.

"Yeah, I still don't know what they put in me but I just feel really jittery but maybe it's just my nerves." Kara said. She then shivered.

"If A injected you with something, then it's probably not your nerves." Anna said as she paced around the room.

"Do you have any idea what they did to you?" Zoe asked as she wheeled over to Kara.

Kara shook her head. "No. I woke up in the hospital bathroom with this bandage on my head and a sore leg from where they injected me."

"How did you not notice it was A?" Rose asked.

"They looked like a normal person."

"So wait, you saw their face?" Anna asked.

"And heard they're voice?" Zoe added.

Kara shook her head. "No, they were wearing the mask but I did see that they had long black hair and they are a female." Kara said. "And they did laugh at me and it was a hideous cackle."

Anna took this in.

"Are you positive it was a girl?" She asked.

"Yeah, they had long dark hair." Kara answered.

Anna stopped pacing and stood in front of Kara.

"Did you see boobs?" She asked.

Kara's face turned white. "I mean I wasn't looking…"

"So you didn't see any?"

"No."

"Then we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl." Anna said, flopping down on the love seat next to Kara.

"If they had long hair then it was most likely a girl, Anna." Zoe said.

"A has wigs." Anna said, remembering the wigs sprawled on the floor of the lair. She remembered seeing a long black wig.

"Yeah, but why would A go through the trouble of showing us their identity but lead us on to someone else?" Zoe questioned. She then made a funny face. She probably realized how stupid she sounded.

"It's A, Zoe." Anna said.

Anna stared at Kara's bandages. "Did you change it yet?"

"Change what?" Kara asked.

"The bandage?"

Kara looked up at her forehead. "No."

Anna got up and walked into the kitchen. She opened the medicine cabinet and looked for bandages.

"What are you doing?" Kara questioned.

"I'm going to change your bandages." Anna said. She found them and grabbed them.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Kara sounded nervous.

"I stitched up Zoe's wrist." Anna said, staring at Kara.

"And it got infected and I had to go to the hospital." Zoe reminded Anna.

Anna rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter. I know what I'm doing and I want to see what A did."

Anna then grabbed some antiseptic and then made her way back to the couch and sat down next to Kara.

Zoe and Rose crowded around the two and watched as Anna reached up and grabbed the edge of Kara's bandage.

She gripped it and ripped it off.

"Ouch." Kara grunted.

Anna was about to say sorry but a gasp escaped her and the other's mouths.

Fear grew over Kara's face. "What?" She asked frantically.

Anna stared down at the bandage as her hands shook. She felt Zoe and Rose's eyes on the bandage as well.

Anna turned it around and showed Kara. Her face turned white.

"What does it mean?"

"A has a hit list." Anna said staring down at it again.

Written on the inside of the bandage was a list of the four girls' names. Kara's was crossed out in red.

The girls remained silent. What was there to say?

Anna tried to shake it off as she put the antiseptic in Kara's wound. It bubbled up and Anna dabbed at it with a cloth while Kara had a sour look on her face.

She then bandaged her forehead back up with shaky hands.

"At least A took the stitches out correctly." Anna said, but it didn't cheer anyone up.

Just then, Anna's phone went off. Then Kara's, then Zoe's and then Rose's.

They all stared at each other with fear in their eyes.

Anna looked down at her text and as soon as she read it, she knew the other three had received the same thing.

 _ **Eeny meeny miny, moe, catch a bitch by her toe, if she screams let her go, eeny meeny miny moe. My mother told me to pick the very worst one and you are**_ _ **it**_ _ **.**_

 _ **-A**_

Anna looked up at her friends and saw their scared expressions.

They all looked up at Anna.

She took a deep breath.

"Shit." Kara grunted.

Shit indeed.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so that was chapter 32 and I'm sorry if it was a little short :(**

 **Thanks for everyone who is following and favoriting, you inspire me!**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **-Jessica**


	35. CompAny

**Hiiiiiiiiii!**

 **How are you all?**

 **Good? Good. Happy to hear it!**

 **Elena. Volbracht and doodledinkey followed and favorited Thanks!**

 **Alright, I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

Rose couldn't stop thinking about that gun being fired inches away from her face.

When it first happened, she brushed it off like it never happened, but now that she actually had time to think about it, it was really starting to freak her out.

If she jumped in front of the gun just a few seconds later, her face would have been blown off.

Rose shook at the thought of it.

Currently, Rose was sitting in her grandparent's main room, while her parents paced around the room, making phone calls.

"The police station has no idea where Noah went." Ezra said as he hung up his phone.

Aria put hers down to and looked at her husband with a look of disappointment. "Victoria won't pick up her phone."

"Did you try calling Noah?" Rose asked.

Both of her parents looked at her.

"We tried him first." Aria said, putting her hands in her pockets. "He didn't answer."

Rose swallowed hard. She didn't know why her parents were trying so hard to find Noah. Did they forget that he tried to kill Zak, almost taking out Rose in the process?

Ezra groaned as he rubbed his face and plopped down on a chair.

"I don't know why you're even trying to find this kid." Ella, Rose's grandmother, said as she walked in the room and set down a bowl of fruit. Rose gratefully took a strawberry.

"We need to get him fired, mom." Aria said, sitting down next to her husband.

Ella sighed as she popped a piece of watermelon in her mouth and sat down.

"I don't think you should try to get him fired." Rose said in a quiet voice.

"He almost killed you, Rose." Ezra said.

"Who tried to kill Rose?" Said the gruffly voice. Rose turned to see her grandfather, Byron, was now in the room.

"Noah, dad." Aria said with exhaustion in her voice.

"Oh yeah, that cop kid." He said as he reached down and grabbed a handful of fruit and began to pick out the pieces he didn't want and throw them back in the bowl.

"Byron!" Ella said when she saw what her husband was doing.

He looked at her and lifted up his eyebrows. "Sorry, hun."

Ella rolled her eyes.

"Should I try to call Noah again?" Aria asked, ignoring her parents.

"It's no use." Ezra said. "He won't answer."

Rose suddenly got an idea and she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Her father asked.

"I'm going to try to call Zak." Rose said, heading towards the stairs to her room.

"What does Zak have to do with this?"

"He was with me when I saw Noah last. Maybe he knows where he went." Rose said.

Nobody said anything so Rose proceeded to head to her room.

Just as Rose was about to take the first step, she heard a loud crash.

The sudden noise caused her to scream and crouch down. She covered her head with her hands. The sound reminded Rose of the gunshot and she looked at her hands and saw them shaking.

When the room was silent again, Rose uncurled from her ball and looked up at the scene in front of her.

"Byron, look at what you did!" Ella scolded.

"I'm sorry, my hands are slippery!" He defended.

Rose looked down at their feet and saw a plate, now shattered, and fruit scattered all along the floor.

"Rose, are you okay?" Aria said.

Rose looked over at her mother. She nodded her head as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

"Are you sure?" Ezra asked.

Rose sniffled. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up I guess."

Rose watched as her parents looked at each other with concerned looks.

"I'm going to go call Zak now." Rose said as she started to shakily walk back towards the stairs.

Her parents nodded their heads and then Rose headed up to her room. She closed the door behind her and she leaned against it, taking deep breaths.

"Calm down, Rose." She said to herself.

She waited for her hands to stop shaking. After a few minutes of deep breathing, they stopped.

She rubbed her face and walked across the room to her phone. She saw Pigtunia sitting on her bed. She looked at it and smiled.

Rose then turned back to her phone and dialed Zak's number.

It immediately went to voicemail.

"Damn it." Rose said under her breath.

Rose waited for Zak's usual voicemail with his short message and cheery voice, but it didn't come.

Instead, she heard eerie heavy breathing.

"Zak?" Rose questioned.

No reply, just more heavy breathing.

Then out of know where, Rose heard a crash sound and a scream come from the phone. And not just any scream, it was Rose's scream.

"Byron, look what you did!" It was Rose's grandmother's voice.

Rose listened in terror.

"I'm sorry, my hands are slippery!" It was her grandfather's voice this time.

Rose felt her hands shake. She listened for her mother's voice. She knew it was next.

"Rose, are you okay?" It was Aria.

Rose wanted to put the phone down but she couldn't. There was a short pause before her father spoke.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up I guess." It was Rose's voice. "I'm going to go call Zak now."

Soon after Rose spoke the sentence, the voicemail ended and Rose heard the beep.

The room was now silent as Rose listened to her own heavy breathing.

"Zak." Rose said in a stuffy voice. "Call me." She said. She then hung up the phone.

She brought the phone down from her face and saw it was wet. She put a hand to her face and noticed that her face was wet from tears.

That conversation wasn't even five minutes ago and A had heard it all.

The message sounded a little muffled so A must have been outside a window. She knew that her grandparents always left the window in the kitchen open a little so Rose guessed that that was where A was.

Where were they now?

Rose opened her door and rushed down the stairs to see her parents and grandparents bent over picking up the fruit and glass.

They were so busy that they didn't even notice when Rose walked in. She walked past them and into the kitchen.

The window was in fact, open. Rose closed it without hesitation. After it was closed, she looked out the window. There was barley any sunlight left, but it was enough to see that there was nobody outside. They didn't even leave any tracks.

Rose heard footsteps behind and quickly turned around to see who it was.

"When did you get in here?" Her father asked as he threw the bag with the shattered glass and fruit in the trash.

"I came down a few minutes ago but nobody noticed." Rose said. She noticed that she had clenched her hand into a fist when she heard her father's footsteps. Was she really that paranoid?

"Oh, sorry about that, honey." Ezra said as he washed his hands.

"That's okay. I'm probably going to head out anyway." She said as she slowly unclenched her fist.

"Out?" He questioned. "Out where?"

"To Zoe's house." Rose answered. "I really want to talk to her." After the fist clenching thing, and the gunshot, Rose was beginning to realize that was indeed paranoid, and Zoe _did_ want Rose to join her in therapy after all. Maybe Rose would give it a shot.

Ezra slowly nodded his head. "You can take my car."

Rose opened her eyes up wide. "You're going to let me go just like that?"

"I trust you, Rose. And I honestly don't think you're going to do anything you're not supposed to."

Rose smiled. "Thanks."

Her father smiled back. "The keys are in the bowl." And then he walked out of the room.

She continued to smile as she walked out of the kitchen and headed to the front door. She reached in the little glass bowl on a table by the door and retrieved her father's keys.

She then giddily got in the car and started it.

It's felt like forever since Rose was able to leave the house alone.

She started up the car and began to drive to Zoe's house.

She was about five minutes into the ride when Rose heard a weird clanking sound.

She listened and tried to figure out what it was. It was a strange noise and Rose had no idea what it was.

After another minuet of driving, Rose heard a pop. Then the car started to slow down.

"Dang it." She cursed as she pulled over. She was in a more secluded road that not a lot of people drove down, so it's not like she could ask a driver driving by if they knew what was wrong with her car.

Rose, having never worked with cars before, though that the best way to start was by lifting up the hood.

She did so and was immediately greeted with smoke. She coughed violently and whooshed the smoke away. Once it was clear, Rose new right away that something was wrong.

One of the parts, she guessed the battery, was detached from the car and was only hanging on by a few wires.

Rose looked more closely at the broken wires. They definitely didn't just snap, someone cut them.

This was sabotage.

She quickly pulled out her phone and opened her contacts up to call her father but before she could hit call, she heard a loud noise come from behind her.

She turned around and barley had enough time to see who it was, but there was a whoosh of black before Rose's vision went out.

Someone, A, had put a bag over her head.

Rose began to struggle. She was kicking and swinging her arms frantically, but it wasn't doing any use.

All the while, A was tightening the bag, making it harder for Rose to breathe.

"Stop!" She screamed. After the word, she began to cough, and the coughing caused gasping.

She gave up kicking and hitting as she felt her body begin to slump.

Her body felt like it was on fire and her lungs felt like someone was ripping them from her body. Her body was telling her to fight, but she was too tired and out of breath. She was to weak to hold her phone that was still in her hand. So, she dropped it.

When Rose calmed down, she felt A's grip loosen, but she still wasn't going to fight. She couldn't.

She closed her eyes and she grit her teeth when she felt a pinch on the back of her neck.

Then Rose's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.

* * *

Kara looked at herself in the mirror. She tried to find _something._ Something that looked different.

It was driving her crazy not knowing what A had done to her.

Kara looked at herself in the mirror. She looked fine. And she felt fine.

She wasn't dizzy, woozy, nauseous are anything. If Kara and the others hadn't found the note on the back of Kara's bandage; she would have thought that A hadn't done anything but knock her out to scare her.

But A did do something. Kara didn't think A was bluffing with the note. After everything that A has done, it was almost impossible for Kara to be surprised anymore.

She wished she could look at the note, but Anna had taken it. "I think that I am the most qualified to figure out what A did to you, Kara." Anna had said when the girls departed that night.

It's been two days and Anna still hasn't said anything about the note. And it's also been two days with Kara knowing that A did something to her and she had no idea what. Who knows, the thing could be slowly killing her. Kara wouldn't be surprised.

She turned away from the mirror in defeat. The aching in her leg from the shot was now gone so Kara didn't have to try to hide a limp from her parents.

Speaking of parents, Kara's mother was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hi." Kara said in an awkward tone.

"Hi." Hanna said in an extremely enthusiastic tone.

Kara looked at her mother with a confused look. "Why are you so happy?" She questioned.

Her mother smirked. "'I'm just in a really good mood.'" She quoted.

"Ha ha." Kara said in monotone. That's what Kara had said the day after Kara and Owen did the deed and her mother asked why she was so happy.

Hanna smiled at her. "Now you know how I feel."

Kara glared at her mother. "Are you still on about why I was so happy that morning?"

"Maybe."

Kara rolled her eyes and walked past her mother into the kitchen.

"Mom, that was days ago." Kara said as she opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle.

"I know, but I know there is something you're not telling me." Hanna said as she leaned against the back of the kitchen chair.

"And why do you think I was keeping something from you." Kara said as she untwisted the cap on the bottle.

"I know that you _are_ hiding something because of the way you were acting."

"And how was I acting?" She asked after she swallowed a gulp of water.

"Happy." Her mother answered.

Kara chuckled. "I can't be happy?"

"No, you can be happy, but it's weird to see you transition from sad and disappointed to happy and smiley in one night."

Kara looked down at the water bottle. She began to slowly rip the label off as she considered telling her mom about what had happened. Both the Owen thing and the A thing.

But if Kara told her mother about Owen , Hanna would probably disown her and forbid her from seeing Owen or something, and if Kara told her mom about A's list, Hanna would try to get involved and if she did, A could very well try to hurt Hanna to.

So instead of saying anything, Kara remained silent.

"Oh come on." Hanna said, breaking the silence. Kara still didn't say anything.

Hanna looked her daughter up and down. To avoid eye contact, Kara took a huge gulp of water.

"It's Owen isn't it?" Hanna said in a snarky voice.

Kara almost chocked on her water. She had to hurry up and swallow or else she would have either spit out her water or choke to death.

"No!" Kara said after she successfully swallowed her water. She didn't sound very convincing.

"Oh no." Hanna said as she sent a disappointed look over to Kara.

Kara just kept shaking her head frantically. "No, mom, it has nothing to do with him."

"Good." She said as she started to pick her finger nails. "That weasel is really getting on my nerves."

Kara stared at her mother. She tried her best not to show any emotion even though she was feeling both sadness and anger.

"And when he was at the hospital the other day." Hanna said. She made a gagging noise. "How dare he? And when we spoke he acted as if nothing was wrong." She shook her head. "It's a shame that he can't get a clue to leave you alone. Honestly, I'm about to-"

"Mom, that's enough!" Kara yelled.

Hanna stared at her daughter with a shocked look.

"Leave him alone okay!" She yelled. She tried her hardest to not let her voice crack.

This time it was Hanna who was silent.

"Look I know you don't like Owen but…" Kara trailed off. She knew it was too late so she had to say it. "…but I love him."

It was hard to read Hanna's expression.

"Yeah, he did me wrong in the past, but he's made up for it and I forgave him. I forgave him and…" She stopped. Was she really going to tell her mother?

"And then we," Kara made weird hand movements. "We did _it._ "

Kara was silent as she waited for her mother or scold her.

Hanna's face went from somewhat disgusted, to normal, than it slowly evolved into a grin.

"I knew it." She said through her smile.

Kara shook her head in a confused manor. "Excuse me."

Hanna laughed and clapped her hands. "I knew it!"

"Mom, what's going on?"

"I knew you and Owen had sex!" She scream-whispered. "And I knew that's what you weren't telling me. So I tried to guilt it out of you by pretending I hated him and it worked!"

Kara stared at her mom with wide eyes. "What?"

"My genius plan worked." She said, still grinning from ear to ear.

Kara shook her head. "So you don't hate him?"

Hanna laughed. "No. And neither does you dad. I made that up too."

Kara didn't know what to do. "So you're not mad that I…" She didn't need to finish her sentence.

"If I punished you than I would be a hypocrite."

Kara made a disgusted face. "Ew."

Hanna laughed. "You can't say 'ew.' It was your father."

"I don't need to know." Kara said as she closed her eyes and walked away as she heard her mother chuckling in the background.

Kara had no idea that her mother was such a good actress. And it was amazing how long Hanna was able to stay in character when Owen was brought up. Kara knew that she should be mad, but she couldn't be. Her mother's plan was genius.

Kara then proceeded to itch her neck. It was now that she realized that she had been itching it a lot and that it was really tender. And then Kara felt the bump.

As soon as she felt it it was gone again.

She stopped in place and began to feel around her neck again. Her pinkie finger grazed over the bump and Kara felt it.

It was small. _Extremely_ small. And it didn't feel like any bump she'd had before. It was smaller than both a zit and a bug bite. So what was it?

Had A injected something in her neck?

Kara brought her shaking hands back down to her sides. Could the bump on her neck be the thing that A was trying to get inside the four girls?

Kara wanted to feel it again but she was too scared. What was inside her?

She turned down the stairs and headed for the front door.

"Mom!" She called out.

"Yes, honey!" She heard her mother reply.

"I'm going out!" Kara said, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

"Do you want me to drive you?"

Kara shook her head even though she knew that her mother couldn't see her. "No, I can drive there."

There was a little hesitation before Hanna answered again. "Okay. Be safe!"

"I will, bye!" And with that, Kara turned towards the door and walked out. She headed for her car that she hadn't driven in weeks.

She opened the car door and got it started with shaky hands. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as she took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

The nerves of there being something implanted into Kara's neck wasn't helping.

"Anna's house is only a few blocks down. You can do it, Kara." She said, motivating herself.

She then started the car and drove. The first turn was a little bad but other than that, the ride was smooth and easy.

Kara pulled into Anna's empty driveway and got out of the car. She stomped to Anna's door and pounded impatiently on it.

Brendon answered the door.

"Hi, Kara." He said.

"Hi." Kara said. She then looked over Brendon's shoulder. She couldn't see Anna anywhere.

"Is Anna home?" She asked.

"Why do you want to know?" He said with an annoying tone.

Kara looked at him and tried best not to roll her eyes and have sass in her voice. "I just need to talk to her."

"Yeah. But for what?" He said. He was smirking now.

"Brendon, go away!" It was Anna's voice.

Kara looked over Brendon's shoulder again and she saw Anna rushing down the stairs.

Brendon stepped to the side and gave Anna a dirty glare. "Whatever." He said as he stomped off.

Anna glared at the back of his head as he walked away. She then turned to Kara with a worried expression.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I think I found out something about the list." Kara said in a whisper. Brendon could still be around.

Anna was silent as she stepped aside for Kara to step into the house.

She did so as Anna grabbed onto Kara's shoulder and directed her to her room.

"Are your-" Kara began to ask.

"Shh!" Anna interrupted as she put a hand over Kara's mouth.

It wasn't until the two were in Anna's room with the door locked behind them that Anna took her hand off of Kara's mouth.

Kara watched as Anna frantically went around the room and sealed up everything. She covered the opening of the bottom of the door with a blanket and she stuffed the vents with rags.

"Okay, what is it?" Anna said after she hoped off her desk from stuffing the vents.

"Are your parents' home?" Kara asked as she sent a questioning look over to the vent.

"Nope, it's just me and A- I mean Brendon." Anna said, obviously intentionally.

"Why are you so sure your brother is A?" Kara questioned, crossing her arms.

"I have my reasons." Anna said, copying Kara's arms by crossing them.

"And when will you tell me these reasons?"

Anna flicked her eyes to the side. "When you'll believe that there is even a chance that he can be A."

Kara sighed. "Okay. I'm open to the idea of Brendon being A." She said. "So what's the evidence?"

Anna looked over at Kara. "You said you think you found something about the list?"

Kara noticed that Anna had completely skipped over the Brendon thing, but Kara let it pass. They had more important things to talk about.

"Yeah." Kara said as she put her hair into a ponytail. "I do."

She walked over to Anna as she put her contained hair off to the side. "I think A injected me with something."

"Well, obviously. He knocked you out." Anna said with a weird look on her face.

"No." Kara said as she sat on the bed. "Something else."

Anna walked over to Kara who was turned away from her. She remained silent.

"My neck has been really itchy and I noticed that there was a bump." Kara said as she pointed to her neck.

She felt Anna's eyes on her bare neck. Soon, Anna's hands were grazing the skin on her neck.

Anna stopped her finger in the middle of Kara's neck.

"I feel it." She said.

"What does it look like?" Kara asked. She still hasn't seen it.

"It doesn't look like anything." Anna said as she moved her finger around her neck again. "There's no mark and it's barely visible."

Kara turned around to see that Anna's eyes were wide with confusion.

"So you don't think it's a bug bite or anything?" She asked.

"No. You would be able to see the bite." Anna answered.

"So what do you think it is?" Kara asked. Her voice was starting to shake.

"I don't know." Anna said. She began to bite her nail. "But it's obviously the thing that A has the list for."

Kara brought her hand back up and felt the bump. She pressed down hard on it and she almost screamed in pain.

Anna noticed. "What?"

"It hurts." Kara said as her eyes began to tear up.

"Turn around." Anna said. Kara listened.

She then felt Anna's narrow, soft fingers on her neck again. She gently pressed her finger against the bump.

"It's throbbing." Anna concluded.

"Well, what's supposed to mean?" Kara asked with worry in her tone.

"I don't know what it means." Anna said with disappointment in her voice.

Kara turned back around again. She saw that Anna had her thinking face on.

"What are you thinking?" Kara questioned.

"I want to know what A put in you and what they're planning to put in all of us." Anna said.

She looked nervous as she said her next sentence. "Do you want to know what it is?"

Kara nodded her head. "Of course."

"Are you willing to do whatever it takes?" She asked. Her voice sounded more serious.

"Anna, you're scaring me."

"Just answer yes or no."

Kara hesitated. "Yes."

Anna nodded as she went into her bathroom and came out with a razor and huge wad of toilet paper.

Kara stared at the razor in fear. "What are you going to do with that?" Kara asked as she pointed at the razor.

"I'm going to see what A put in you."

"You are _not_ cutting into my neck!" Kara said as she stood up.

"You said you would do what it takes!" Anna said, setting the two objects down.

"That was before I knew that you wanted to cut me open!" Kara said rather loudly.

"Okay, be quite!" Anna said. She walked over to Kara.

In a gentle tone she said, "I know it's scary but this is the only way we are going to figure out what A did to you."

Kara looked down at the floor. "It's the only way?"

"Yes."

"On a scale of one to ten, how much is it going to hurt?" Kara asked as her voice cracked.

Anna didn't hesitate as she said, "Eleven."

Kara pouted. "Thanks for sugar coating it!"

"Well, I'm not going to lie!"

Kara groaned as she put her head in her hands. She hesitantly walked over to the bed and laid down face first. "Okay."

Kara could hear Anna sigh with relief. "I'll go as fast as I can."

"Yeah, yeah, just get it over with." Kara said, pinching her eyes closed.

"Just try not to scream or anything." Anna said as Kara felt her hands glide over her neck to feel for the bump again. Anna marked it with a cold substance, a pen probably.

Kara groaned in response.

"Okay." Anna said. "I'm going to count to three."

"Okay." Kara said. She felt her body shaking.

"One…" Anna began.

Kara pinched her eyes closed.

"Two…"

She could sense the razor hovering above her neck.

"Thre-"

 _Buzz…buzz…buzz_

"You should get that." Kara said quickly. Anything to by her more time before a razor would cut into her neck.

Anna groaned as she walked to her phone.

Kara sat up and watched as Anna picked up her phone with the razor still in her hand.

"It's from Rose." Anna said as she read the text.

"What does it say?" Kara asked as she walked over to Anna.

Kara watched her eyes scan over the text frantically and her face went pale.

"What?" Kara asked when she was in front of Anna.

Anna put the phone down. "Rose needs us." And then she began to frantically but on a pair of boots.

Kara watched her. "What's going on?"

"A has Rose." Anna said, unlocking the door. "C'mon we have to go."

Kara didn't hesitate to quickly move along with Anna. The two rushed down the stairs as Kara quickly put on her shoes.

The two were about to walk out the door when a voice called behind them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Kara and Anna turned around to see Brendon at the top of the stairs.

"Butt out of it, Brendon." Anna said as she put on her coat.

"You're not allowed to leave the house remember." He said in a snooty tone.

Anna ignored him as she zipped up her jacket.

"I'll call mom and dad." He said with a smirk on his face. God, this kid was annoying.

"Go ahead." Anna said angrily. "By the time they get home Kara and I will be long gone and you have no idea where I'm going."

Brendon scolded Anna. "Why do you always have to break the rules?"

"Why do you have to inject things into my friends?" Anna said, grabbing onto Kara's arm.

Brendon looked confused. "What?"

Anna turned to Kara. "Let's go."

Kara obliged as she and Anna walked out the door.

"Anna, wait!" She head Brendon call but they closed the door before they could respond.

The two got in Kara's car with Kara at the wheel.

"Where are we going?" Kara asked.

"Just drive." Anna responded. "I'll tell you where to go."

The two drove as Anna gave directions and Kara found herself driving into the woods.

"Are you sure about this?" Kara asked as she turned on her blinker.

"Yes, turn into the woods." Anna said, looking down at her phone.

"Bad things happen in the woods." Kara said.

"I know, just turn."

Kara took a deep breath as they turned.

They weren't very far in when Kara pulled into the driveway of a cabin.

"She's in there." Anna said as she pointed.

Kara stared at the cabin. There was a mailbox that said "Kahn" on it.

"It looks abandoned." Kara said.

Anna didn't respond as she unbuckled and got out of the car. Kara followed.

"How do you know that she's in there?" Kara asked as they trudged up to the front door.

"Rose texted that A took her here." Anna said as she opened the door.

Kara walked into the musty old house.

"She texted?" Kara asked.

"Yeah."

"A let her keep her phone?" Kara asked as she looked around the cabin.

"Maybe A forgot to take it off her." Anna said as she turned on the flashlight on her phone.

"That doesn't seem like something A would forget." Kara said as she looked at Anna.

Anna stared back.

They stared at each other and Kara flinched when she heard the front door slam shut.

"Rose?" Anna called as she shone the light over to the door.

It wasn't Rose.

It was none other than A.

* * *

 **OOHHH cliffhanger!**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **See you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	36. Trickery

**AN: Hey guys!**

 **I love all your reviews and it makes me so excited to see your excitement for the story!**

 **Really, it warms my heart.**

 **Thanks to all of you! Without you, I wouldn't be confident about this story and it would have ended a looonnng time ago.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Now let's begin the chapter!**

* * *

It was off!

The cast was finally off.

Zoe was kind of nervous going into the doctor's office to get the cast off after hearing Kara's story, but she made sure that her parents were with her the entire time.

Zoe was currently sitting with her parents in their private room waiting for the doctor to come back with her brace that she would have to wear.

The trio had to wait for ten minutes.

Then Zoe saw the doorknob move and she felt her heart beat faster. She was finally going to be able walk again!

The door opened and the familiar face of her female doctor walked in.

She looked at the family. "You all ready?" She asked, as she put a large case on the counter top.

"Absolutely." Alison said.

"Yes." Emily said after.

Zoe was to nervous to say anything so she just smiled and nodded her head.

"Alright." The doctor said as she opened the case and pulled out the big hunk of metal.

Zoe stared at it in awe. When she first heard the news of her having to wear the brace, she was disgusted. But now, after having to wear the cast for months, Zoe would have married the brace.

The doctor carefully brought the brace over to Zoe and aligned it onto her right leg. She watched as the doctor's hands moved along the brace as she tightened and adjusted things.

"Does this look good to you?" She asked, making eye contact with Zoe.

"Yes." Zoe said. She honestly had no idea. There were too many things to look at and Zoe trusted her doctor to do everything right.

The doctor nodded her head and she tightened up the brace.

Zoe felt the thing hug her leg. She tried to move her leg a little bit but it was heavy and she was unsuccessful.

The doctor stood up and looked at the brace.

"Alright, it looks good." She said in a cheery tone.

Zoe was also smiling ear to ear. "So when will I walk again?"

The doctor looked at Zoe and her facial expressions went from happy to sad. "When your therapist says you can."

Zoe felt her smile fade also. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that your leg is way too weak to walk. You need to gradually build up its strength before you can walk around."

Zoe was speechless… and heartbroken.

"How long will that last?" Emily asked.

"Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months." The doctor said.

"When can we start?" It was Alison's voice.

"Next week. Until then, Zoe will have to stay in the wheelchair and we can assign small leg exercises you can do." The doctor said. Her voice sounded up beat, but Zoe still felt sad and disappointed.

"She'll only need to wear the brace when she goes to physical therapy so until then, just keep her in the chair and limit her leg movement." The doctor continued.

Zoe felt eyes on her as she looked down at the ground. She didn't look back. She was so disappointed. She thought that today she would take her first normal steps in months. Now she has to wait _weeks_? Just thinking about it made Zoe want to cry.

She kind of drowned out the rest. The doctor had taken off the brace and put it back in the case, then there was the last minute chit chat between her mothers and the doctors, there were the goodbyes, there was the wheeling to the car, and there was the struggling to get in the car and then there was the ride home. Zoe had only mumbled a few words during the whole thing.

When she got home, her parents helped her out of the car and into the house.

Almost immediately after the three walked in the door, Jason came barreling around the corner.

"Well?" He said drastically.

Zoe saw Alison shake her head at him and wave her hand in front of her neck.

"We have to wait a few more weeks." Zoe said angrily as she wheeled off.

"What…I thought… I'm sorry, Zoe." Jason muttered.

"Yeah, it's fine." Zoe said as she reached her room. Without saying anything else, she closed the door and pulled herself onto her bed, face first.

Without looking, Zoe reached her hand over to her nightstand and grabbed the snow globe. She shook it, still without looking up.

The familiar jiggling sound came but it didn't make Zoe feel better.

Knowing it was useless; she put the thing back on the nightstand and took a deep breath.

She stayed like this for minuets until she heard the door open it. She still didn't lift up her head to see who it was.

"Zoe?"

Emily.

"Yes?" She grunted; her voice muffled out from her pillow.

"I'm putting your brace in here." She said. Then Zoe heard a loud clunk. "In case you want to look at it and get excited about the thought of walking." She said in a semi-cheery tone.

"Thanks." Zoe said in her most excited voice possible, but it was pretty unbelievable.

She then felt her mother squeeze her foot and then there were footsteps as her mother walked out and closed the door.

Zoe really didn't want to see the brace. To be honest, it would make Zoe feel worse about herself more than hopeful. She only let her mother put it in her room because it sounded like she really thought it would help, and Zoe didn't want to disappoint her mother even further.

After more minutes of thinking, Zoe finally lifted her head up. It wasn't because she was done moping; it was because it was getting hard to breathe.

She turned her head around and saw the brace resting on the wall.

Just as she had suspected, it made Zoe feel bad. It felt like someone had shoved their hand into Zoe's chest, ripped her heart out, cut it up with scissors, taped it back up, and shoved it back in.

She turned away from it.

Her eyes now faced a wall. She found herself getting extremely bored, so she decided to stop moping and get up.

She whipped her legs over the side of the bed. She stared down at her feet. Once seemed thicker than the other.

A hair then fell on her face and she brushed it back, looking back up at her room.

She now stared at her wheelchair. That made her feel even worse than when she looked at the brace.

She darted her eyes away from the chair and down to her legs. Her right leg looked different from her left.

He left seemed a lot healthier, while her right leg looked sickly. It must be from being in that cast for so long.

Zoe put a small bit of pressure on her right leg. She felt a little tingle, but it felt just like her left leg did.

She got an idea. She hopped on her left leg across the room over to the brace. She grabbed the chair from her desk and sat in it. She then grabbed the brace from the wall and began to wrap it around her leg.

She remembered how the doctor did it perfectly. Zoe's hands moved fast as she tightened and loosened the straps.

When she was done, she looked at her brace up and down. It looked just as it had when she was in the doctor's office.

She took a deep breath and grabbed onto the wall. She slowly pulled herself up, putting all the pressure on her left leg.

Zoe looked down as she slowly put the pressure down on her right leg to.

A tingly feeling washed over her leg, but other than that, it felt fine.

She now had equal pressure on both her legs, and she was standing tall.

Her balance seemed pretty good. Feeling pretty confident about herself, Zoe took a step.

She moved her left leg first. As she did this, she felt her right leg wiggle uncontrollably.

The front half of her body fell forwards, but Zoe quickly moved her right leg to match her left one and used her arms to balance herself. After a few seconds of struggling, Zoe did it.

She had taken a step.

She tried to take another one, moving more quickly this time.

She put her left leg out first and without hesitation she took a step with her right leg.

Zoe was unsuccessful this time.

Her right leg bent under her weight and she toppled forwards. She caught herself on her bed and used her strength to not face plant the floor.

She pushed her whole body onto her bed and smiled at herself. She did it. She took a step!

Yeah, the last one might have failed, but she still managed to take at least one step.

Zoe reached for her phone on the night stand and started a group message with Kara, Rose and Anna.

 **Are you guys busy? I really need to show you something.**

 **-Zoe**

She pressed send and waited for a reply.

After five minutes, there was still nothing.

"Come on." Zoe grunted as she kept refreshing her messages.

She slammed the phone down and looked back down at the brace. She figured that is she was going to show her friends, she at least needed to learn to take more than one step.

She got her balance again and put out her left leg. She felt her right leg start to shake, she would fix that later, but she prepared herself to take the step with her right leg.

Just as she was about to do it, Zoe heard her phone ring. She plopped back down onto her bed and read the message.

 _ **Your friends are a little busy right now.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was an image attached to it. Zoe opened it and stared in horror. It was Anna, Rose and Kara. They were all tied up and grouped into a corner.

Zoe tried to figure out where they all were, but it was too dark to see.

Her heart was racing. A had them.

They actually had them.

Another text came in.

 _ **Come to the Kahn cabin the woods. Alone.**_

 _ **-A**_

Zoe knew where it was. She had been there before when she was about ten or eleven. She had gotten lost in the woods when she strayed from the trail and when she saw the house; she sat on the porch and cried. She was scared that her moms would never find her.

They eventually found her with tears running down their faces and worried expressions. They grabbed her and took her away from that house in a hurry.

Zoe looked at the picture of her friends again. All their eyes were closed, but they didn't look hurt.

They needed her. They were depending on her. It was up to little old, crippled Zoe to save the day.

Zoe stood up and looked around her room. She couldn't exactly walk out and tell her parents, all three of them, that she was going out to go save her friends from A at the Kahn cabin. First of all because Zoe could hardly walk, second of all because Zoe wasn't supposed to even _attempt_ to walk, and third of all because they would want to join and Zoe wouldn't let them put themselves in danger.

She looked at her window. It seemed to be her only option. But what if her parents heard her?

What if they came in her room to check up on her? There wasn't much she could do about that, but she could at least tune out the noise.

Zoe knew she had an old radio under her bed that she could use. So, she carefully lowered herself down and looked under her bed.

It was right where she thought it would be. She got it and stood back up.

She stretched out the antenna and turned the knob all the way up.

Justin Bieber's "Sorry" was now playing full blast. Zoe stomped her foot to see if it blocked the noise of her metal foot and it did.

She then turned to the window. Now for the hard part.

Zoe leaned against the wall as she made her way over to the window. Her right leg felt like was going to give out the entire time, but she ignored it. She _had_ to get to her friends.

She finally made it to the window. She opened it. Zoe put her left leg up first. She grabbed her right leg, looping her fingers between the brace, and she lifted it up onto the windowsill.

She slowly lowered herself onto the ground. She caught her balance pretty quickly, but it was the whole walking thing that was her problem.

The first ten steps went by slowly. She made them carefully and slowly. She realized that this was getting her nowhere and that she had to speed up.

She took another step and quickly brought her right leg forwards. She barley struggled.

She chuckled at herself. She was getting the hang of it.

She speed walked to her car with little struggle. She opened the car door and hopped inside.

It had been a _long_ time since Zoe had driven, but just like walking, it came back to her almost immediately.

She speeded over to the woods, all with a smile on her face. She was starting to feel normal again.

Zoe pulled into the woods and she started to see the cabin in the distance.

The smile quickly faded from her face as she remembered what she was doing.

She parked in the driveway of the cabin. She saw Kara's car also in the driveway. She noticed that the tires were slashed.

Did she try to come to the rescue to? If she was, she was unsuccessful.

Zoe parked and waddled to the front door. It was open a crack.

She took deep breaths before she opened it.

"Come on, Zoe." She said to herself.

She remembered the picture and that caused her to get angry. Angry at the fact that A was doing this.

What had the girls done to upset them so much?

That's what Zoe wanted to know. And that's what she was going to find out.

With that thought in her mind, she opened the door and walked in.

* * *

Anna woke up with her head pounding.

It was dark, and Anna couldn't see that much, but she could see that Rose and Kara were also next to her, gagged and tied up.

Anna stared down at her hands. They were tied.

She bit down and was greeted with the taste of fabric. She was gagged.

Great.

It seemed like Rose and Kara were still unconscious, but their faces still seemed scared.

Anna looked around the room she was in. She couldn't see much. The only light in the room was the moonlight seeping in from the boarded up windows.

She could see silhouettes of chairs, tables and something that might be a fireplace.

She noticed that her legs weren't tied up, so Anna struggled as she tried to maneuver her tied up hands from behind her back to her front.

As she was trying to get her hands past her feet, she struggled greatly.

Her body was at such a weird angle, that she was scared that her arms would dislocate.

She grunted softly as she used all her strength to bring her hands past her feet.

Anna finally did it after a few painful minuets. She then stood up and looked for something to tear the rope on her hands with.

Everything in the room was in fact a table or chair and had nothing sharp what-so-ever on them and Anna was starting to give up hope.

She walked to the boarded up windows. They were loose. She grabbed one of the boards with her tied up hands and ripped it out of the wall and the board tumbled towards the floor.

She cringed at the loud noise. She waited a few seconds to see if anybody had heard her and was coming to get her, but it didn't sound like anyone was coming.

She then looked at the board on the ground and she felt herself smile through the gag in her mouth.

Sticking out of the board was a nail.

She then sat down and held the board with her feet and began to quickly rub the rope on the nail back and forth.

Anna did this for several minutes but didn't get anywhere. She felt sweat drip down her forehead as she gave up on the nail. It wasn't sharp enough to pierce the thick rope.

Anna abandoned the board and went back to the window. Through the wood she could see the window. It was broken.

Anna ripped out a few of the other boards as quietly as she could until she could reach her bound up hands through the wood and receive a piece of broken glass.

She reached her hands in and felt the sharp glass. She carefully wrapped her fingers around the edge of it, trying her best to not grab the sharp end. She grabbed it and pulled. She heard the glass disconnect from the wall and she felt it dig into her hand.

She grunted loudly but it was muffled by the gag. She quickly brought the glass out and rested it carefully on the ground.

She kicked the wooden plank aside and it slid across the room into the darkness.

Anna sat down and did the same thing she did with the nail. She put the glass in between her feet and rubbed her hands over the sharp ends.

Her hands kept slipping of the glass because it was covered in blood. Anna looked at her hands and saw the cut. It was small but it was deep.

She ignored it and went back to cutting the rope.

She felt sweat roll down her face and back as she frantically went back and forth.

She saw the rope begin to rip and hope began to fill her.

Anna waited until there were only a few threads left that connected the two pieces of rope. Instead of risking cutting the thread on the glass and having her hands fly down and impale herself with the glass, she just used her strength to break the rope.

She pulled her two hands apart with all the strength she had left and the rope made a satisfactory snapping sound.

Anna smiled at the sight of her hands being separated. She then pulled the rope of her wrists and removed the gag off of her mouth.

She took deep breaths as she moved over to Kara and Rose's bodies.

Anna began to ungag them as they started to wake up.

As she ripped the gag from Kara's mouth, her eyes shot open and she screamed.

"Shh!" Anna said as she put a bloody hand to her mouth.

Kara made a disgusted face but remained silent. Her screams woke up Rose, but she was pretty calm.

Rose stared at Anna with a worried and scared expression.

Anna turned to Kara and whispered. "Calm down. We're going to get out but you can't say a word."

Kara nodded slightly as Anna removed her hand from her mouth.

She then moved over to Rose and looked her in the eye. "Same goes to you."

Rose nodded in response.

Anna then took Rose's gag off and Rose kept her mouth shut.

Anna kept them tied as she looked around the room. If A walked in, they would see that it was Anna who got free and Rose and Kara only managed to get the gag off and hopefully A would only punish Anna.

She walked across the room and put her ear against the wall. It was silent.

She walked back to Kara and Rose and whispered. "I don't think A is anywhere near us."

"Where's Zoe?" Kara asked.

Anna shook her head. "I don't know."

"Do you think A has her?" Rose whispered.

"Hopefully not." Anna said in a shaky voice. "She's our only hope right now."

The girls were silent.

"What if A already has her?" Kara asked.

"They don't." Anna replied.

"How can you be so sure?" Rose asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Because if A has Zoe, they would have already used her to get what they want from us."

"You think that A wants something from us?" Kara asked.

"Why else would they hold us captive?" Anna said as she looked through the boarded up windows.

"Do you think our parents are looking for us?" Anna asked when she stepped away from the window. It must have been close to midnight.

"Probably." Kara said in a depressing tone. "We've been gone most of the day."

"I told my dad that I was going to Zoe's." Rose said as she looked at the floor. "He probably isn't worried yet."

"I'm sure he is." Anna said, walking towards the tied up girls. "I'm sure our parents have told yours that we're missing."

A tear rolled down Rose's face but she didn't say anything.

Anna swallowed hard. "Okay, I'm going to untie you now." She nodded to the windows. "The boards are pretty loose so we might be able to rip them from the wall and climb out the broken window. If A hasn't done something to Kara's car, we can use that to get away."

"But what if A _did_ do something?" Kara asked. Her voice quivered.

"Then its three against one." Anna said. "We can fight A off."

Kara and Rose nodded their heads but they didn't do it confidently. It seemed like they were scared. Anna understood why. This person is dangerous and they most likely had weapons, but Anna tried not to think about. She was pretty sure they would get away through the window.

Anna then bent down and began to untie Rose's ropes. She was nearly done when the door unexpectedly burst open. "Shit." She whispered to herself.

Anna's heart dropped into her chest when she looked up and saw the black figure.

She quickly stood up as A stood in the doorway.

Then they charged.

Anna charged to, and when she was close enough, she quickly jerked to the right and that caused A to fumble.

The doorway was now clear and Anna could have easily escaped but she was not going to leave Rose and Kara.

She turned back around to see A on the opposite side of the room. Right next to their foot was the shard of glass. If Anna was fast enough, she could grab it. But what would she do once she had it? Did she really have the strength to drive the glass shard into A and kill them?

She didn't know.

A began to move again as Anna sprinted.

"Anna!" She heard someone scream, but she couldn't tell who.

She was just a few feet away from A when she slid down on her knees and grabbed the glass shard. It dug into her hand but she didn't care.

She stood up and quickly spun around and was shocked to see A was right behind her.

Before Anna could process anything, A slammed their fist into the back of her head and she fell to the ground.

"Anna, no!" Was the last thing she heard before she was out cold.

* * *

"Leave her alone!

It was Rose.

Anna then felt a sharp kick to her stomach.

She tried her best to pretend like she was still unconscious; this was Anna's only advantage at the moment.

There was another kick to the chest, but it wasn't as hard as the last.

"Stop!" It was Kara yelling this time.

It was silent in the room now and Anna could hear the quite sobs and sniffles of Kara and Rose.

Anna tried her best to keep a steady breath, but every time she took a breath in, it felt like someone was ripping her ribs in half.

How long has A been kicking her? How long has Anna been unconscious?

Anna waited for another kick but it didn't come. Instead, she felt fingers in her hair.

A grabbed onto Anna's hair tight and pulled it so Anna's head has lifted off the ground. Still, she showed no emotion.

She then felt something cold against her neck.

"What is that?" Kara asked.

Of course, there was no reply.

Anna didn't want to find out, so she opened her eyes and kicked her legs out.

Her legs connected with A's legs and they fell over and crashed hard into the wooden floor.

A small grunt escaped from the black mask.

Anna shook as she stood up. She tried to stand up straight but she felt dead. All of her energy was taken when she kicked A.

A got up quick and began to charge at Anna again.

"Anna move!" Rose yelled.

Anna didn't move. Instead, she held her arms out. A stopped running at her and stared at Anna's hands.

"Tie me up." She wheezed out.

A didn't do anything.

"Tie me up." She repeated.

A listened and pulled out rope that was hidden behind a chair. Anna didn't hesitate as A tied it around her wrists tightly.

They then grabbed Anna's shoulders and forced her down to the ground right next to Kara.

A looked at the girls behind their mask. Even though Anna couldn't see their face, she knew that they were satisfied.

"What's the plan?" Kara whispered.

"There is no plan." Anna said in a normal tone. She didn't need to whisper.

Kara looked at Anna with tears in her eyes and Rose just looked at the floor.

A tilted their head and walked towards Anna. She held an emotionless expression as A bent down to where they were face to face with Anna.

They then held out an object.

It was her bracelet.

"Where did you find that?" Anna asked in a furious tone. She knew that A wouldn't reply, but she still had to ask.

They held the bracelet in front of Anna's face in one hand and then A pulled something out from behind their back with their other hand.

A syringe.

But there wasn't medicine in it. It looked like a little machine and the syringe would plunge it deep into Anna.

"You want to put that in me?" Anna wheezed as she nodded to the syringe.

A slowly nodded their head.

"So if I let you put that in me, you'll give me the bracelet back?"

They nodded their head again.

"That's not good enough."

A tilted their head.

"I'll let you put that in me if you let Kara and Rose go." She said. She knew that A could just put the thing in Anna no matter what, it's not like she had a choice. But she was hoping that the strength in her voice was enough.

A did nothing. It was like they were actually thinking.

Then Anna saw movement from behind A.

She quickly darted her eyes up to see what it was.

It was Zoe. She was standing in the doorway. She was standing?

Zoe put a finger to her mouth, signaling for Anna to keep quite.

Anna darted her eyes back to A. If she stared at Zoe for too long she knew that they would catch on.

Kara and Rose perked up. They must have spotted Zoe. Anna prayed that A didn't notice.

"Do we have a deal?" Anna asked.

They still didn't move.

Anna darted her eyes back up to Zoe. She was looking around, probably for something to attack A with.

She made eye contact with Zoe and Anna then brought her eyes down to something that was on the floor. It was the wooden plank with the nail in it that Anna had kicked away earlier.

Zoe followed Anna's eyes to the board. She then looked back at Anna and nodded.

Zoe then began to take a few steps so Anna started talking.

"Come on." She said to block out the noise.

"Are you actually considering this?" Anna said. She chuckled. "It took you two seconds to set Rose's house on fire but it's taking you this long to inject me?"

A still did nothing.

"You know what I think?" Anna said. She leaned in closer. "I think you're a coward." She looked up. Zoe was bending down to pick up the board.

"I think you're a coward who has nothing better to do than pulling amateur ticks on teenagers."

Anna saw A twitch. Was she getting to them?

"I mean, you're not really good at being a psycho." She said with a smirk. "Your texts aren't that frightening and you barley live up to your threats."

Anna rolled her eyes. "And you're supposed to be the next generation A? Please, you can never be as good as Mona. She came up with all this, I mean come on, you're not even original."

She looked up again at Zoe. She had the plank in her hand and she started to walk towards A. She nodded her head in encouragement to Anna.

"You're supposed to be this menacing person who keeps us up at night and you can't even come up with original ideas."

She stared at A. They were clenching their fist. She then darted her eyes to Rose and Kara. They were staring at Anna with their mouths hanging open.

"Eeny meeny miny moe, seriously? That's the best you could come up with?"

Anna looked back up at Zoe. Just a few more sentences and Zoe would be on top of A.

"And do you know what the worst thing is?" Anna asked in a snooty tone with her head tilted. "You can't keep track with everything that's going on." She hissed.

Zoe was right behind A.

"And the fact that you're so easily tricked is really such a shame." Anna said smiling.

A sat up straight as they realized what was going on.

"Now, Zoe!" Anna said as A turned around.

"Ugh!" Zoe grunted as she swung the board at A's head.

There was a loud thunking sound that could have been heard for miles.

Anna watched as A's body fell to the floor. A second thunk sounded as A hit the wood floor.

"Oh my god!" Kara gasped as she looked up at Zoe and Anna.

Zoe quickly moved to the three tied up girls. She untied Anna first.

"Are you guys okay?" She said as she untied Anna's hands. "Oh my god, Anna, your hands! They're bleeding!"

"I'm fine. I'll explain later." Anna said as she stood up and moved over to Kara. She untied her hands while Zoe untied Rose's.

"What the hell just happened?" Rose cried out.

"To be honest, I have no idea." Zoe said as she untied Rose.

Kara and Rose stood up with tears in both their eyes.

Anna turned to Zoe, who stood with a small smile on her face. "When did that happen?" She asked as she nodded to the brace on Zoe's leg.

"I'll explain later." She said with a wink. "C'mon we need to go." Zoe said, changing her tone.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, let's go." She said as she started to make her way to the doorway.

"Wait." Kara said from behind Anna.

She turned around to look at her.

"What do we do about A?" She said, pointing at their body.

Anna stared at them. The nail from the bored was stuck in the back of their head. She cringed.

"I don't think they'll wake up for a while, K." Anna said in a cheery tone. She could tell that Kara was upset about what had just happened.

"Don't you want to see who A is?" Kara asked as she slowly walked towards A's body.

"No, I want to get the hell out of here." Rose said as she wrapped her arms around her body and walked to the door.

"This could be our only chance." Kara said as she stood over A.

"Kara, we don't know when A's going to wake up and we need to be long gone before that happens." Zoe said.

Kara still didn't move.

Anna walked towards her and grabbed her arm. "Besides, A is going to have a hole in the back of their head from the nail. We'll find them from that."

Kara didn't say anything and she didn't hesitate as Anna pulled her away from A.

"Alright, let's go." Zoe said as she quickly limped out of the cabin.

As Anna walked, she could feel the soreness in her ribs. Her adrenaline was covering up some of the pain but she knew that it would kill later.

The four walked out of the cabin.

"Alright, get in my car." Zoe said as she opened the back seat door for them.

Kara looked at her car parked close to Zoe's. "What about mine?"

Zoe sent a sympathetic look over to Kara. "A slashed out your tires."

Kara looked at her car as she muttered out, "Dang it."

Anna grabbed Kara again and brought her towards the car door. "Come on."

Kara followed and the four got in the car.

They drove back to Rosewood in silence. What was there to talk about?

Anna sat in the passenger seat as she looked out the window. How was she going to explain all of her bruises to her parents?

"That was some pretty good stalling." Zoe said from the driver's seat.

Anna turned her head and looked at Zoe who had her eyes on the road. "That was some good walking."

Zoe laughed. "Thanks."

Anna smiled as a response.

She turned back to the window and stared out at the moon.

For the first time in a while, Anna felt like she had some control.

She had tricked A.

And she felt like she could do anything.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, that was a lot.**

 **ZOE CAN WALK NOW! FINALLY!**

 **And also, dang….**

 **That's all I can muster out from that. xD**

 **Anyways, please review! Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	37. Consequences

**AN: Alright, Alright!**

 **I'm still bad at anons. Oh well xD**

 **Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Rose was the last one to get dropped off by Anna.

She took a deep breath and turned her head to Anna. "Goodbye." Rose said.

Anna gave Rose a weak smile and said, "Bye," back.

Rose then opened the car door and stepped out. Before she could close it, Anna called out for her.

"Rose!"

She turned to her. She was silent as she waited for Anna to speak.

"Be safe." Anna said in a soft tone.

Rose nodded. "Back at you."

Anna smiled the smile again but this time it seemed more genuine.

Rose smiled back and closed the door. She then started to walk up her driveway and to her front door.

She looked to the road in time to see Anna's car turn out of the street and disappear behind more houses.

Rose then turned back to her door and opened it. She didn't even bother knocking.

Once the door closed, she heard her mother shout across the house.

"Rose!"

She followed the voice and found her parents and grandparents in the main room.

Her parents stood up once they saw Rose.

Aria dashed over to her daughter and looked at her in the eyes. Aria then proceeded to look at Rose up and down as if she was inspecting her.

"Mom. Mom, I'm okay." Rose said, grabbing her mom's hands that were on her face.

"Where were you?" Aria asked as her hazel eyes stared deeply into Rose's blue ones.

"I was-" Rose was interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

"I got a call from Zoe, Kara, and Anna's parents saying that they were gone and they wouldn't answer their calls or texts. So, I called you and you didn't answer." Aria said in a worried tone. "Were you with them?"

Rose took a step back. Being so close to her mother was making her slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah, I was with them." She answered.

Aria continued to stare into Rose's eyes. "Where were you?" She said in a worried/serious tone.

Rose looked at the rest of her family in the room. They were all staring at her. She then grabbed her mother's arm and guided her into a different room. All the eyes on her were making Rose panic.

"Where were you, Rose?" Aria asked for the millionth time.

"Don't freak out." She started out. Right as she said that, her mother's eyes opened wide, like she was going to freak out.

Rose decided that it would be best if she said what happened as fast as she could.

"I was going to Zoe's house like I told dad, but then his car started to make weird noises so I pulled over. When I got out, I was attacked." Rose said.

Aria's eyes grew with fear and she began to open her mouth, but before she could say anything, Rose began to talk again.

"A put a bag over my head and knocked me out." She didn't mention the part where A put something in her neck to.

"I woke up in some old cabin in the woods not far from Rosewood. Anna and Kara got there a few minuets after me, but they were knocked out when I saw them. I got to see the room for not even a minute before A knocked me out again. When I woke up the second time, Kara and I were tied up and gagged but Anna had managed to get out of the restraints. She tried to find a way out but she couldn't. Then A came in the room and saw that Anna wasn't tied up so he started to attack her and I couldn't do anything." Rose's voice cracked at the last sentence.

That really messed her up. Anna was getting pummeled and Rose couldn't move. It was torture and when Anna was knocked out, Rose had no idea if she was alive or not. She took a deep breath and continued to tell her mother what happened.

"A knocked Anna out and he wouldn't stop…kicking her." That was the best way Rose could describe it. "After about an hour of Kara and I pleading for them to stop, Anna woke up and attacked A." Rose felt her eyes starting to water now.

"She gave up after a while and let A tie her up. It wasn't long after that Zoe showed up, but A didn't know. "

Rose felt a small smile spread across her face as she remembered the end result of what happened that night.

"I don't know how they did it, but Zoe and Anna worked together to trick A. Anna distracted them while Zoe came from behind and knocked A out. Then the two untied Kara and I and we left as soon as possible. We didn't want to be anywhere close when A woke up. Then Anna drove us all home and now I'm here."

Rose stared at her mother who looked speechless. Maybe Rose shouldn't have explained her story that fast. It was a lot to processes.

"You went through that?" Aria asked in a scratchy voice.

Rose nodded her head. "Yeah, not even an hour ago."

Rose watched as a stray tear fell down her mother's face. "And this whole time I thought you snuck away to be with Zak or something and I wasn't even that worried." Aria began to rant. She was talking more to herself then she was to Rose.

"I'm a terrible mother." She said, looking at the floor. "I was more angry then scared."

"Mom, it's okay." Rose said. This time, it was Rose that grabbed her mother and stared at her deeply in the eye.

"I would never just leave." She said. "Remember that."

Aria shook her head. "Your father kept telling me, 'maybe we should go to the others and look for you all' but I kept saying no because I was so convinced that you ran away to be with Zak and that the other girls were covering for you." She then grunted. "What it wrong with me. It's like I forgot that A existed!"

Ezra then walked in just in time to see the tears rush from Aria's face.

"Rose, what did you do?" He asked.

"Tell mom that she's a good mother." She said, ignoring his comment.

"What, why?" Ezra asked. It was obvious that he was extremely confused.

"Just do it!"

"Uh, Aria, you are an amazing mother." He said in an awkward tone.

Aria rolled her eyes. "No I'm not."

Ezra looked at his daughter and gave her a look that said "what is going on?"

Rose looked at her father and said, "Look, dad, while I was gone I was kind of held hostage by A, but-"

"What!" He interrupted loudly with his eyebrows raised.

"But," Rose began again, "Mom seems to think it's her fault when it's not, so tell her it's not her fault." Rose said in a gentle tone.

Ezra, looking extremely worried and confused, turned to Aria with a gentle look. "Look, Aria, I have no idea what happened, but there is no way that this is your fault. You were right here by my side the entire night worrying where Rose was. And hey, it's not like you called A and told them where Rose. This is _not_ your fault." He said in a calm and determined voice.

Aria looked up at her husband with tears in her eye. "But-"

"No buts!" Ezra said as he walked over to Aria and put his hand on her shoulder. "This isn't your fault and you need to get this idea out of your head." He then started to direct Aria out of the room. Rose had no idea what her father was planning to do for Aria, but she knew it would work.

That's one of the amazing things about her father. He always knew how to cheer you up in the best way.

He turned around, winked at Rose, and then left the room with Aria.

Rose took a deep breath. She was happy that her father didn't ask her about what happened. She really didn't want to talk about it again.

But a thought did hit her. Before Rose was knocked out, she felt a pinching in the back of her neck. Kara said that she felt something in the back of her neck to. Did she ever find out what A put there?

Curiosity took over Rose and she went to the upstairs bathroom and locked the door. She grabbed a hand mirror and held it up to face the sink mirror. She could now see the back of her neck.

It seemed normal. Rose then found herself itching her neck. She felt her fingers scratch against a small bump. Oh god, there was something in her neck.

The problem was, Rose couldn't see the bump, so it was something extremely small.

She felt for the bump again and when she found it, she realized it felt like a zit. She knew it wasn't one, but she tried popping it. Maybe she could drive the thing out.

It didn't work. It only brought extreme pain and soreness. She stopped doing that immediately.

Rose tried to think about what she could do. If she made a small incision, maybe she could get the thing out. It would hurt like hell, but it would probably work.

She dug through the drawers and found nail clippers. It had a sharp enough point to do the job.

Rose put her hair to one side and felt for the bump again. She brought the clippers down with shaky hands and just as she was about to do it, she heard her phone ring.

Rose stopped and looked over at her phone.

 _ **Try and take that out again and I'll cut of your moms fingers.**_

 _ **-A**_

Rose never followed directions so quickly in her life.

She looked out the bathroom window for A, but it was too dark out to see anything.

She had gotten an A text. That meant that A was awake. And A was angry and Rose had no doubt that A would cut of one of Aria's fingers after what the girls did to them.

Rose left the bathroom and walked down the hallway. She could hear her parents in their room talking. She didn't listen in to the whole conversation, but she could hear her dad say, "Just pick one. Anyone you like."

Rose wanted to open their door and make sure her mom still had fingers, but she also didn't want to interrupt her parent's conversation and upset Aria again.

Rose went into her room and looked out her window. She still couldn't see anything.

She sat down on her bed and called Anna.

It went to voicemail. She was probably explaining to her parents what happened.

" _You've reached Anna, I'm sorry for not answering but I'll call back as soon as possible."_ Then Rose heard the beep.

"Try not to do anything stupid, Anna. A's awake, I just got a text." Rose then hung up the phone.

She took a deep breath. For some reason, she felt like she wasn't alone.

She glanced at the window. She knew she wouldn't see anything, but what if somebody _was_ there?

Feeling tense and uncomfortable, Rose got up and walked out of her room.

She walked down the stairs and saw her grandparents still sitting in the main room.

"Have you guys heard anything from Noah yet?" She asked. She wanted to put her mind on something else.

Her grandparents stopped their conversation and looked over at Rose.

Her grandmother looked disappointed. "No, but we did hear from the police station. That cop, Victoria I think she said her name was, said that she hasn't heard of him since before the incident. He hasn't checked in or anything since."

Rose shook her head. What was wrong with Noah? Where is he would be a better question to ask. Did he almost killing Rose affect him that much? Yes, killing someone could change you, but he didn't mean to. Maybe Rose bringing it up is what offended him.

"Thanks." Rose said to her grandmother with a smile. Ella smiled back.

Rose then walked out of the room. She was thankful that her grandparents didn't ask about what happened either.

Walking through the hallways of her house, Rose felt another buzz in her pocket. Maybe it was Anna texting back.

It wasn't.

 _ **Why worry about Noah when you just talk to him anytime in your closet?**_

 _ **-A**_

The closet?

What was that supposed to mean? Did she really want to find out?

Rose began to slowly make her way up the stairs and back to her room. When she got to the door, she hesitated to open it. She grabbed the handle and turned it with a shaky hand.

She was just in her room and nothing happened. Had A done something in the five minuets she was gone? Was this all just a bluff?

Rose swung the door open and pinched her eyes closed. When nothing jumped out to kill her, she opened her eyes.

Her room seemed normal. She turned her head to the closet. She took a deep breath in and a sour smell rushed through her nostrils.

She took small steps over to the closet and when she got there, the smell got stronger.

She put a hand up to her nose to block out the smell but it barely worked.

Before she even opened the door, Rose knew what was going to be in there.

She took a deep, nasty smelling, breath in and counted to three.

At three, she flung the closet door open.

Inside was Noah, but he wasn't alive.

Rose screamed and fell back. Her scream sounded through the whole house and she heard everyone calling for her, but she was too scared to call back.

She hit the ground hard with a loud _thunk._

Rose looked at the body. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't.

He looked like Noah, but he was a lot paler, and he looked a little grayer.

And to add to the creepiness factor, his eyes were open. And his cold stare was locked onto Rose.

She looked down at his chest. There was a bloody paper taped to his chest. She read it as she heard footsteps running up the stairs.

 _I'm the only one who can shoot a gun at you and get away with it._

 _-A_

As soon as her eyes were done scanning the paper, Rose's door flung open and her parents rushed in.

Aria screamed while Ezra gasped.

Her eyes were still glued to Noah.

She couldn't look away. Chaos started to fill the house.

Ezra ran across the room and cradled Rose in his arms while he covered her eyes with his hands.

And for once, Rose was thankful for the darkness.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Owen voice asked thorough the phone.

"Yes, I'm okay." Kara said for the thousandth time.

Kara had just finished telling her parents would have happened, and when Owen called, she couldn't stop herself.

She didn't mention the thing in her neck to her parents. She tried to tell them as little as possible. A would wake up eventually and they would be _mad_ and Kara didn't want them to be even more upset with her than they already were.

All she really said is that her, Anna and Rose were held hostage at the old Kahn cabin, but after being there for a few hours, Zoe came and was able to knock A out and they all escaped. Kara didn't mention anything about the girls being hurt though, because that would get her parents furious.

Well, they already where furious but adding on that A hurt them would make them want to kill A.

"Kara, are you still there?" Owen said. His voice made Kara jump. She had forgotten that he was there.

"Uh, yeah, sorry I got lost in thought." She said smoothly. Kara also didn't tell Owen about the thing in her neck.

That was something that only she and the others knew and she intended to keep it that way.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Stuff." She answered, unenthusiastically.

"Come on, Kara. If you want me to help you have to actually let me."

Kara shook her head even though she knew Owen couldn't see her. "Maybe, I don't want you to help me."

It was silent on the other end of the phone. "Really?" He asked after a while.

"I just don't think now is the perfect moment to jump in and be superman."

"I don't want to sit here doing nothing." Owen sounded disappointed.

"Right now, sitting around doing nothing is probably the bravest thing you can do." Kara said as she looked down and picked at the stitching in her bed sheets.

"Alright." He said in that disappointed voice again.

"I love you." Kara said after a few seconds. She hoped it would cheer him up.

"I love you too." He said back, but he still sounded some-what disappointed.

Giving up, Kara hung up the phone.

She threw it across the bed and then plopped down and sighed.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to think.

Kara was just now realizing it, but she was pretty sure she was the weakest link. What has she done to help the group? She couldn't think of one thing.

Anna saved her and Zoe from the car crash. She helped Zoe with her destroyed leg while Kara stayed on the ground and used her sprained ankle as an excuse.

Zoe did that clever scheme against A and knocked them out while Kara sat there, to terrify to speak.

Rose ran away from her home, the place where she felt safest, and let herself trust Zak. Because she was brave enough to do that, she got all sorts of information on A.

And what has Kara done?

Kara got injected in the back of her neck. And that didn't help any of them.

She remembered what Anna said to calm Kara down at the cabin:

"'Besides, A is going to have a hole in the back of their head from the nail. We'll find them from that."'

Then it hit Kara. She could finally do something to benefit the group.

She would find and expose A.

Kara sprung up from her bed and made her way towards the bedroom door.

From there, she ran down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her father asked from around to corner.

She stopped mid-step and turned to her father, her mother standing next to him.

"Um, out." Kara answered with little confidence.

"Can you be a little more specific?" Hanna pressured.

"Look, Zoe is having a hard time dealing with what she did and she wants someone to talk to. Her parents wouldn't understand so she wants me to come over." Kara lied. She hated bringing her friends into this but she knew it was the only way to convince her parents to let her go.

They looked at Kara unconvinced. "So if I called Zoe right now, she would tell me exactly what you said?" Hanna asked, pointing to the phone.

"Yeah, absolutely." Kara answered with a lot of more confidence in her voice. She was calling her mother's bluff. She wasn't going to call. She used this threat thousands of times and never went through with it.

"Well, I don't know if I want you to go out." Caleb said.

"I can text you when I get there." Kara offered.

Her parents looked at each other and then back to Kara.

"As _soon_ as you get to Zoe's you need to text us." Hanna said, pointing at Kara.

"And we'll know when you get there." Caleb added.

Kara nodded. "I will. Thank you so much!" She said. She then smiled a big fake smile and walked out the front door. She took her dad's keys since her tires got slashed and all that.

She also forgot mention that to her parents.

Kara jumped in her dad's car and began driving. She knew that her parents were tracking her through her phone. Her father's comment spoiled it. But Kara knew how to work past this problem.

She drove her normal route to Zoe's house. When she got there, Kara got out of her car and walked up to Zoe's window on the bottom floor. She quickly typed a text to her parents:

 **I'm here. I'll text you when I'm leaving.**

 **-Kara**

She then sent it to both of them.

Kara then looked up at Zoe's window and began to tap on it.

Zoe wouldn't answer the window. Then Kara remembered what just happened last night. Zoe was probably thinking Kara was A or something.

"Zoe, its Kara!" She shouted just loud enough for Zoe to hear.

The curtains then pulled back and Zoe's sender face appeared. She saw Kara and opened up her window.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked.

Kara noticed that she was back in her wheelchair. Why would she be in it if she didn't need it? That was a question for another time.

"I need you to take this." Kara said as she held up her phone.

Zoe scrunched up her eyebrows. "You want me to take your phone?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but you need to trust me." Kara said, handing it over to Zoe.

Zoe looked confused but she said, "Yeah, of course."

Kara smiled and leaped through the window, trampling Zoe in a hug. "Thank you!" She said into her shoulder.

"No problem." Zoe said back.

When the two separated, Zoe looked down at Kara's phone. "What if someone calls or texts?"

"Ignore it." Kara said. "Unless someone sends a text saying someone is dying, then say something."

"What would I say?"

"I don't know, but don't worry about it. Odds are, nobody is dying." Kara said with a smirk.

Zoe stared at her with an unreadable expression. "Okay." She said in a long drawn out tone. She then placed the phone on her bed.

"Can I ask what you're doing?" Zoe asked.

"You'll know once it's over with." Kara said smiling. She then grabbed Zoe's window and shut it, leaving Zoe with a confused look on her face.

Kara then crept back to her father's car and drove to the destination she wanted to go to in the first place.

She drove there a little scared. What if A was still there?

Well, her question would be answered in a few minutes.

Kara gulped as she parked her car. She wasn't going to make the mistake of parking in the driveway again.

She couldn't risk the tires on her father's car getting slashed too.

She walked for ten minutes until she saw the cabin. The first thing she noticed is that her car wasn't there anymore.

The second thing she noticed is that the house seemed completely still.

Kara hoped this was a good thing.

She carefully tip-toed up to the front door of the cabin. It was open.

She opened the door fully and cringed at the creaking it sounded.

The sun was out and shining and it peeped through the boarded up windows, so Kara didn't need a flashlight or anything.

She took the first step into the cabin. A loud creaking noise sounded. Kara rolled her eyes. It seemed like every time she wanted to be quiet, she was as loud as an elephant.

"Screw it." She said to herself as she started to walk around the house without being quiet.

She knew exactly what room to go in. It was burned into her memory.

She began to walk towards it, going as slowly as possible. A could very possibly still be in there.

Once Kara got to the doorway, she was terrified to see what was actually in there.

Was there blood? Rope? Broken glass? A's body?

She had no idea.

She took one more deep breath before she moved. Once Kara felt her heart rate go down, she jumped in front of the doorway with her fists raised.

She looked around the room and saw nothing. She then looked down at the floor where A's body used to be.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

In fact, the room looked normal. It was like nothing had happened there the night before.

The blood stains were gone, the windows were all boarded up and dust littered the room.

Kara took a few steps into the room. She looked down at the center of the floor.

This was were A's body was. There were no marks though, no blood, sweat or anything.

Did A really take the time to clean this up? Why?

How did they make it so exact?

"I cleaned it up."

Kara spun up around and thrusted her fist towards the speaker.

She stopped inches from their face when she recognized who it was.

"Zak?" She asked.

"Hi, Kara." He said with his hands in his pockets. He looked a little alarmed from Kara's almost-attack.

Kara looked closely at his face. Deep gashes and bruises covered it.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Kara hadn't spoken to Zak in ages, and if it wasn't for Rose, she probably wouldn't trust him. But Rose said that Zak helped her when she was gone, and if Rose trusts Zak, so does Kara.

"I saw you come in here." He said.

"And you followed me?" Kara questioned. She crossed her arms and took a few steps towards him.

"Yeah, I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Rose is fine if that's what you're wondering." Kara said.

"No, that's not what I was wondering." Zak said, taking his hands out of his pockets.

Kara was shocked. He wasn't? Then why the heck was he talking to her?

"Oh." Was all Kara could say.

"Yeah, I've actually been looking for you for a few days but you never seem to stay in the same place." He said.

Kara tilted her head. "Sorry?"

Zak chuckled. "You're fine."

Kara swallowed. "So why exactly where you trying to find me?"

Zak's face turned serious. "Did A inject you with something?"

Kara felt her heart rate speed up. "Yes."

"Do you have any idea what it is?"

Kara shook her head. "No."

"Have you tried to figure it out?"

"Yeah, Anna and I did." Kara said. She began to scratch the back of her neck. She felt the bump again.

"Well what happened?" He asked. He held his arms out.

"When the razor was inches from my neck I got a text from Rose saying that A had her. Turns out that A did have her but they took her phone and tricked Anna and I." Kara said with a little bit of attitude.

"I'm sorry about that." He said. "I would have helped but I was in a pretty bad situation myself." Zak said as he pointed to his face.

"Who did that to you?" Kara asked as she pointed to his face.

"A." He said with disgust in his voice.

"But A was with us." Kara said as her voice cracked. Right after she said it she knew what that meant.

"There's two of them." Zak said. "And this time it's not me."

Kara felt her stomach do a backflip. They had no idea who this first A was, and now there was a second one to find?

It was silent as Kara processed this.

"Are you the only one with the chip in your neck?" He asked.

When he said that, Kara put a hand to her neck ad felt for the bump. "I think so."

"Good." He said. He then took a few more steps towards Kara. He got close. "You have to make sure that A doesn't put any more of those things in the rest of you."

Kara felt his warm breath in her face. "Why? What is it?" She asked. Her voice quivered.

"It's a tracking device." He said. "And I can't think of any other reason why A would need one other than-"

Then a shot went off.

Kara screamed when she heard it, and she looked right into Zak's face. His mouth was open and his veins were popping out of his forehead and neck.

She looked down at his white T-shirt. It was now soaking red right above his heart.

"Zak!" Kara cried as his body fell forwards.

Kara grabbed him before he crashed on the ground. She slowly lowered his body onto the ground.

His eyes were clear and watery. Blood started to come out of his nose.

"Zak!" Kara cried again.

She put her head on his chest to hear for a heartbeat, but there wasn't one.

Kara looked back up to his face with tears in her eyes.

His blank stare looked up at the ceiling as his mouth hung open.

"No…no…no…no!" Kara cried over and over again as she started to shake Zak.

"Zak, stop! You can't die!" She said as she shook Zak violently.

But it was no use. He was gone.

A chocked up sob escaped from Kara's mouth. She put a hand up to her mouth as she stared at his body in disbelief.

Kara took her fingers and closed Zak's eyes.

She didn't know what to do. She just saw someone die, right in front of her eyes.

Someone killed him.

Someone _killed_ him.

Another shot sounded above Kara's head.

She yelled again as she flung her body down, right on top of Zak's body.

 _Boom…boom…boom!_

More shots.

"Stop!" She yelled. "Please stop it!"

Kara looked up and through her blurry vision, she saw a black blob.

It was A, and they had just killed someone.

A killed Zak.

They were capable of killing.

Kara got up and ran for the door. She heard more shots but they weren't anywhere close to her.

She was at the door and she turned back. Zak was there, a pool of blood surrounding him.

How quickly did he die? Was it right away? Did it hurt? How was she going to tell Rose? She didn't want to think about it.

"I'm sorry." Kara mumbled as she turned for the door.

She got in her dad's car and sped away.

Once she was out of the woods, she pulled over. Her hands were shaking so badly.

She couldn't process what had just happened.

Kara stared at her shaking hands, covered in blood. It was still warm.

She looked down at her outfit. Her blue and purple sundress was now stained with Zak's warm blood.

How was she going to explain this to her parents?

First, Kara had to call the police.

She reached for her phone but then she remembered how she gave it to Zoe.

"Damn it!" Kara yelled as she hit the wheel.

She then cried in her hands. She felt the warm blood against her head.

She quickly moved her hands away and stared at the blood again.

Kara didn't know what to do. The only thing she felt capable to do was screaming.

So that's what she did.

The weakest link.

* * *

 **AN: Okay… so again, a lot happened**

 **So A is killing people now… maybe the girls shouldn't have tricked them.**

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ … oops.**

 **It was really hard killing off Zak. I personally loved him and he was a great character who could help the girls. But I knew that A _had_ to kill someone because we're almost 40 chapters in and nobody had died yet so… yeah.**

 **Plus I also killed off Noah but I don't think anyone cared about him that much. Lol.**

 **Also, if you're wondering about the timeline for this chapter because I know it can be a little bit confusing some times, Rose's perspective comes first and it is the night of the attack, so it is before Zak was killed.**

 **Kara's is second the next morning, and thats when she sees Zak die.**

 **Just thought I would clear it up :)**

 **xD anyways, I hope you enjoyed and leave a review on something A can do to the girls. My tank is running low and I'm kind of running out of ideas so I really need your help.**

 **Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	38. Trouble in Rosewood

**AN: WOW**

 **I'm really happy with the reviews I've been getting!**

 **I didn't know that you all liked Zak that much.**

 **I know, I'm sad he's gone too :(**

 **But… his death has meaning, I promise.**

 **Also, I'm sorry for the late upload. I had company over til about 11:30 and as soon as they left I got right to work on this!**

 **Thanks for your consideration and enjoy!**

* * *

Kara didn't even bother driving to Zoe's to get her phone.

She was too much of a disaster.

Instead, she drove back to her house, taking back ways and roads not many people go down.

If somebody saw her in her car covered with blood, they would probably call the police.

When Kara pulled into her driveway, she was too scared to get out.

What was she going to say? How would she explain this?

Kara felt more tears rush down her face and she didn't try to fight them.

Crying felt like the healthiest thing to do right now.

With a shaky breath, Kara opened the car door. When she tried to get out, she had to rip herself from the seat.

She looked down at it. It was covered in dry blood. Kara then looked at her butt. It was also covered in dry blood.

Kara's whole body was covered in dry blood.

She pinched her eyes closed and tried not to think about it, but the itchiness and dryness of the blood kept irritating her skin and it was refusing to let Kara forget.

She opened her eyes in defeat and started to walk up to the front door. All the while not looking down at her bloody self.

She opened the front door and slowly opened it.

She stepped in and didn't see anybody around.

"Mom?" She called out in a weak voice.

"Kara? Is that you?" She heard her mother call out from not that far away.

"Mom!" Kara called back. She wasn't sure what to say and she was petrified. She couldn't move.

She heard her mother's footsteps quickly heading towards where Kara was.

When she got in the room, her eye's widened.

"Mom." Kara said, her voice low, shaky, and depressing.

Hanna kept her ground. "What happened?" She said in a shocked voice.

Kara shook her head as tears rolled down her face. She didn't know how to say it. She didn't want to say it.

Her dad then entered the room. He looked shocked as he looked at Kara up and down. "Kara?" was all he said.

Kara then looked at her dad.

"Dad." She mumbled.

Both parents looked at her with a questioning look.

All Kara wanted was for them to comfort her and tell her it was okay until she could stop crying.

Kara continued to shake her head violently.

"A." Was all she could get out.

Then her parent's eyes opened even wider.

"A?" Her father said in a loud, angry tone.

"Oh my god, did A do something to you?" Hanna said in a concerned tone.

Kara nodded as a sob escaped her throat.

Now her parents rushed to her. Hanna began to inspect her, looking closely at the blood stains. She probably thought the blood was Kara's.

Caleb was asking Kara thousands of questions as he kneeled down and looked Kara in the eye as he held onto her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" He began.

Kara wasn't sure what he meant by that. Did he mean mentally or physically?

Physically: yes, mentally: no.

He probably meant physically, so Kara shook her head.

"Did A phyically hurt you?" He asked next.

She shook her head again.

"Did A, do…" He trailed off. "Did he touch you in any way?"

"No." Kara said. She knew what he meant.

Caleb then looked confused. "Then what did they do?"

"Why are you all bloody?" Hanna added.

"A killed…" Kara began but her throat swelled up. At first she thought it was just another sob, but then it was something else.

She turned away from her parents and tried to head for the toilet, but she didn't get in there in time, so she grabbed a potted plant and threw up in that.

Hanna came to her side and held her hair up and rubbed her back.

"A killed someone?" Caleb asked as Kara threw up. You could hear his voice shake a little. Even he was scared.

As Kara threw up, she saw the image of Zak's body again.

She saw the bullet hit him, and then she saw the blood bleed through his shirt. She saw his body fall and she saw his eye's go dead.

Then she thought of Rose.

How was Rose going to handle this? Kara rarely even spoke to Zak, but Rose…

Rose loved him.

Rose relied on Zak, she could count on him. Zak helped her get through her roughest time.

If Kara was acting like such a mess, how was Rose going to feel?

"Rose…" Kara murmured under her breath. She was the first thing on her mind.

"Rose?" Hanna said in confusion.

Kara turned back around and wiped her mouth. When she saw her mom, there was horror in her eyes.

"A killed Rose?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

"A killed Rose!" Caleb said from across the room.

A sob then escaped Hanna's mouth.

"No!" She said under her breath.

Kara shook her head. They misheard her.

She reached out for her mom's hand. She grabbed it and squeezed.

"No, mom." She said.

Hanna then looked at her.

"Rose is fine. It's just…" Kara trialed off.

"Zak." She finished. Saying his name felt like a thousand bee stings to the heart. Saying his name brought more tears.

Hanna noticed this. "Zak is dead?"

Kara nodded. "A killed him right in front of me, and I watched him die."

She took a deep breath. "I didn't know how to stop it." Another sob escaped her lips.

Her parents were silent from shock.

"He was trying to warn me about something and then… boom." Kara whispered.

Hanna's hand covered her opened mouth.

Caleb stared down at the floor. "That explains the blood."

Kara held herself. "I didn't know what to do."

Hanna took a few steps forwards and hugged her daughter. "It's okay."

"I didn't know what to do." Kara repeated. "I didn't know what to do."

Caleb joined in hugging Kara.

"I didn't know what to do."

She couldn't stop saying it.

"I didn't know what to do."

She pinched her eyes closed, but when she did that, she saw Zak's body, and Rose's face.

"I'm sorry." She said to the faces. "I didn't know what to do."

And then, Kara's hearing went wonky. Then her legs went limp.

Then she collapsed.

* * *

Kara woke up in her bed.

She was clean and in pajamas.

"Kara?"

She looked up. Anna was there.

Everyone was there.

Anna, Zoe… and Rose.

They all looked concerned, but Kara focused mainly on Rose.

She looked just as confused as the other girls.

Did she not know?

Kara stared at Rose. She had the same look as Kara did when she saw Zak dead.

She had the same disturbed look.

So _did_ she know?

"Are you okay?" Rose asked. She probably saw Kara staring.

Kara opened her mouth. It's not like she could say 'I just saw Zak die right in front of me as he was trying to tell me something about A. He was brutally murdered by them too. And the worst part is that I couldn't help him.'

So instead all she said was, "No."

The girls got up from their seats and walked over to Kara's bed.

The laid down next to her and wrapped her up in hugs.

After a few minutes of them laying there with Kara crying into their shoulders, Anna eventually said, "You're parents called us. They said you were going through a tough time and that you needed us. But they didn't really say why."

Kara broke apart from their hugs and stared at them with red puffy eyes.

She _really_ didn't want to tell Rose yet. But they all deserved to know.

Kara looked at Rose.

"Can you go in the downstairs closet and grab me a box of tissues." She asked.

Rose nodded her head. "Yeah, of course." She squeezed Kara's hand before she got up.

Kara waited until Rose left and closed the door to being speaking again.

"You guys can't tell Rose." She started out abruptly.

Zoe and Anna looked at each other and then back to Kara with confused looks.

"What?" Zoe asked.

Kara swallowed hard. "Zak is dead."

Both of their jaws dropped. "He was trying to talk to me about the tracker in my neck and then A shot him. He died right in front of me, and that's why I'm messed up."

"Oh my god." Zoe muttered under her hand that was covering her mouth.

"Poor Rose." Anna said. She was staring into space with droopy eyes.

"You can't tell her." Kara said in a serious tone.

They nodded their head.

"Of course." Zoe said.

"Sure, no problem." Anna replied. "But you have to do it eventually."

Kara nodded her head in an unenthusiastic way. "I know."

Rose opened the door. She walked back over to the bed.

"Here you go." She said, handing the tissue box to Kara.

She took it. "Thank you." Kara said. She then took a tissue and blew her nose.

Kara then made awkward eye contact with Zoe. She kept shooting her eyes up to Rose.

She then mouthed the words. "Tell her."

Kara sent her an angry look and mouthed "Shut up!"

Then Zoe mouthed "You need to tell her!"

"What are you guys doing?" Rose asked.

Kara then reached out and smacked Zoe's leg.

"Ow! What was that for?" She yelled.

"There was a mosquito." Kara said. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

"But we're inside." Rose pointed out.

"Well, I saw a mosquito." Kara said, crossing her legs.

"Yeah, I thought I saw it too." Anna pitched in to help.

Rose nodded her head awkwardly. "Okay."

Kara then shot a look over to Zoe. Hopefully she never pulled something like that again.

"I think we should go." Anna said.

"Yeah, I think we should." Zoe said, agreeing.

"Already?" Rose said. "We just got here!"

"My parents are probably wondering where I am." Anna said.

"Yeah, and I'm grounded for walking around when I shouldn't be." Zoe said.

Rose nodded. "Well, I'm staying."

Zoe and Anna nodded.

"We'll see you later." Anna said, hugging Kara again. "Good luck." She whispered into Kara's ear. Kara squeezed as a response.

Zoe hugged her too. "Bye."

"Bye, guys." Kara said.

"Bye." Rose replied

They stood up.

"Oh, before I forget." Zoe said, reaching into her back pocket. "You never came to get this." She then held out Kara's phone.

She grabbed it. "Thanks."

Zoe winked. "No problem."

And then she and Anna walked out.

Kara looked at her phone in her lap. She saw that she had one new message.

She opened it and saw it was from A.

 _ **You aren't the only one who's seen death. Just ask Rose.**_

 _ **-A**_

Kara tried her best to show no emotion. Rose was right in front of her. But Rose has "seen death." What was that supposed to mean?

"I know there's something you won't tell me." Rose said when Kara looked up from her phone.

"What do you mean?" Kara said in her calmest voice possible. It wasn't very convincing.

Rose pulled out her phone and pulled up her text messages. "I got this right before I came." She then held her phone out to Kara.

It was an A text. It was almost identical to Kara's.

 _ **You aren't the only one who's seen death. Just ask Kara.**_

 _ **-A**_

Kara looked at it and then back up to Rose.

"Who…" She trailed off.

"Noah." Rose said, putting her phone back into her pocket. "He was missing for a while and then next thing you know, his rotting corpse was in my closet."

Kara's mouth hung open. "Oh my god, Rose." She said.

Rose shook her head. "It's fine. It was bad at the moment. Seeing his dead body is what messed me up, but I got over it."

"You weren't sad that he died?" Kara asked. She couldn't believe what Rose was saying.

"I didn't know him for that long, and he did almost shoot a gun into my face. But to really get over it, I had to pretend like it didn't faze me."

Rose looked at Kara with a questioning look. "How about you?"

Kara looked at Rose with a blank stare. She wasn't prepared.

Would Rose be mad at her? Would she somehow blame Kara for Zak's death?

"Kara!" She said, snapping her back into reality. "What happened?"

She took a deep breath and looked at Rose right in the eye.

"Zak is dead."

* * *

Rose stared at Kara, unable to process what she had just said.

She didn't know how to react. Was this for real?

"Rose?" Kara said in a gentle voice. "Did you hear me?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, I heard you." She said in a quiet voice.

"Are you okay?"

Rose shook her head. She ran her hands through her hair as she said, "I don't know."

Kara gave Rose a sympathetic look. She reached her arm out to comfort Rose, but the pulled it away.

Rose pinched her eyes closed as she imagined Zak.

Zak. The man who tricked her, the man who loved her, the man who helped her, then man who was now gone.

"How did he…" Rose trailed off. She felt her voice flatten and if she said another word it would come out with tears. But Kara seemed confused.

She took a deep breath and steadied her voice. "How did he die?" She said nice and slowly.

Kara looked at Rose with a sad look. Tears formed in Kara's eyes as she spoke.

"I was going back to the cabin to see if A's body was still there and he followed me." She began.

Rose wanted to scold Kara for going back to the cabin where they all could have easily been killed, but that was for another time.

"A wasn't there, but when I was going to leave, Zak showed up. He said he was looking for me."

Rose bit her nails. She was actually scared of what Kara was going to say. She didn't think she could handle this for much longer.

"What did he want?" Rose asked as her voice shook.

"He wanted to know if I was the only one with the thing in my neck. And I said I was."

Rose was about to say that she had it to, but she just really wanted to get this over with.

"He told me that it was a tracker, and that I had to make sure nobody else got it in their necks."

Rose then bit down hard on her thumb. She looked down and saw that she had bit her nail down to the nub. So, she moved on to the next finger.

"A tracker?" Rose asked, her eyes wet and wide.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing that's how A found us." Kara said, her voice flat.

"He was telling me about _his_ A attacks and we found out that there are two A's again. Then he moved on to tell me that A had… bad intentions." Kara said. Tears were starting to form in her eyes to.

"What are A's bad intentions?" Rose questioned. Her voice was shaking even worse than before.

"I don't know." Kara said as the first tear fell from her eyes. "He was going to tell me and then the shot rang out."

Rose stared at Kara with her mouth open slightly. Staring at Kara's crying face, plus what Rose had just heard is was caused her to crack.

A sob escaped her mouth, and she put her hands up to cover her mouth. She felt tears roll down her face and onto Kara's bed.

It took her all the courage in her small body to ask, "And then what happened?"

Kara wiped away her few tears and took a deep breath. "He was falling so I caught him and lowered him down to the ground. He was gone before I even caught him. I refused to believe he was gone and I stayed with him until A started to shoot at me."

Rose felt her whole body shake. She removed her hands from her mouth and wasn't shocked to see them shaking as if someone had struck her with lightning.

"You saw him die?" She said barley audible.

Kara nodded her head gently.

Rose put her head into her hands. Her whole body was shaking up and down with her sobs.

Zak, her Zak was really gone.

And the last thing Zak had said to her was, "Don't worry. I'll never leave you." And Rose would like to believe that was still true.

She said those words over and over in her head as she cried more.

As she was sobbing, she felt Kara's hands rub her back. She leaned into Kara and let her body rest in Kara's lap.

Kara began to get all the hair out of Rose's face, gently stroking her skin in a calming way.

"It was fast, Rose. He didn't feel anything." Kara said in a gentle tone.

"You think so?" Rose replied. She was trying her best to calm down.

"I'm positive. When he fell, he looked up to the sky with no sign of pain and when I closed his eyes, it looked like he was sleeping peacefully. The only indicator of death was the blood."

Rose felt a small weight lift off her shoulders. Not the full weight that was permanently there now that Rose didn't have Zak, but knowing that he went fast was a relief.

When Rose felt her tears lessen, and she felt her throat stop shaking, Rose said, "I'm sorry Kara."

"Sorry for what?" She asked, confused.

Rose looked up at Kara's face. "Sorry that you had to go through that and tell me."

Kara smiled a genuinely warm smile. "Yeah, it sucked. But Zak's courage made me stronger. We know a lot more about A and I think we are even closer to defeating this asshole."

Rose chuckled, jerking her body in to processes.

And she didn't know how she did it, but she managed to fall asleep.

* * *

Rose woke up in her grandparent's main room couch.

She jumped up and looked around her. Nobody else was in the room.

She stood up from the couch and took a few steps with wobbly knees.

Rose began to walk for the stairs but her grandfather appeared out of nowhere.

"You should be sleeping, kiddo." He said from behind her.

Rose turned around to see her grandfather leaning against the wall.

"I was just sleeping." Rose said, gesturing to the couch.

"You've had a hard past couple of days and the best way to get through it is by sleeping."

Rose looked down at her wobbly knees. She was starving.

"But I'm hungry." She said, sitting back down on the couch. She was scared that her knees were going to give out.

"I'll make you something." Byron said with his famous smile. "How does a grilled cheese sound?"

Rose smiled a fake smile. "A grilled cheese sounds perfect."

He nodded and headed for the kitchen.

Not long after he left, he came back. He handed Rose a paper plate with a gooey grilled cheese on it.

"Thanks." She said.

Even though she was starving, Rose really didn't have an appetite. She took a small bite, only because her grandfather was watching.

"Where are my parents?" Rose asked, setting the food down.

Rose saw Byron's eyes flicker back and forth. "Out."

Byron has never been good at keeping secrets, but Rose let this one go. She would just ask her parents when they came home.

As if on cue, the front door opened and her parents came trudging in.

"Did you close it?" Aria whispered.

"Yes." Ezra snapped back as he closed the door.

"Are you positive? I mean what if somebody-"

"I closed it, Aria." He snapped back.

"Hey guys!" Byron shouted from across the room.

Aria and Ezra looked up and saw Byron and Rose. Their eyes widened.

"Hi, dad." Aria said with her fake smile. She then looked down at Rose's half eaten grilled cheese. "Did your grandpa make you that?" She said in a high pitched voice.

It was obvious that Aria was trying to brush over what happened. As if Rose hadn't heard what the two were talking about.

God, how many mysteries could Rose take without going mad?

Ezra plopped down on the couch next to Rose and grabbed her hand. "How are you, Miss. Rose?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"I'm fine." Rose said, setting the grilled cheese aside.

Aria soon plopped down next to Rose too. "We heard what about happened to Zak." She said in a gentle and cautious tone.

"Yeah." Rose said, scratching her arm. "It really sucks."

She really didn't want to talk much about it. Her eyes were raw and she couldn't afford more tears.

"Your mom and I are here if you need us." Ezra said, squeezing Rose's hand and then letting it go.

Rose nodded her head. "I know."

"Is there anything you want?" Aria asked.

"To be honest, the only thing I want right now is to be alone in my bed right now." Rose said, looking down at the ground. She would go do that, but she remembered Noah. She still had no idea what happened with his body. All Rose knew was that A had slaughtered him.

"You can go in there." Ezra said as if it was an obvious fact.

Rose looked at him. "What about Noah?"

Ezra looked over Rose's at shoulder, probably to looking at his wife. He stared for a few seconds and then he looked back at Rose.

"It's taken care of." He said in a sketchy voice.

Rose ignored it because she _really_ just wanted to lie in her bed.

She stood up and walked towards the stairs. Before she climbed up, she looked at her parents.

They sent her an encouraging smile. Rose smiled a fake smile back when she really felt like she was dying inside.

Really, not just her heart hurt, but her insides felt rotten also.

She walked up the stairs with difficulty, but when she got to her room, she felt strong again.

She was drawn to the closet. Last time she was drawn to the closet, there was a dead body.

What if it was Zak in there this time?

Rose took a deep breath to see if she smelled the same rotten smell as she did for Noah, but she didn't smell it.

She began to slowly walk towards the closet. Her hands shook as she put her hands on the closet doorknobs.

She was almost positive that there wasn't a body in there, but after all that's happened, who knows. Anything's possible.

She cracked her knuckles and then ripped the doors open.

Instead of a cold body, she was greeted with a warm shiver down her spine and an unexpected surprise.

It was a good surprise.

Smack dab in the middle of the closet, was Zak's Steelers sweatshirt that he had given her the first time they met.

This was weird because when Rose was putting the little clothes the firemen managed to spare from the fire in her closet, she didn't remember putting the sweatshirt in there.

She would have remembered.

What was even stranger was that wrapped around the hanger, was Rose's rose necklace, no longer with a broken chain.

She had lost that ages ago when she was in the woods.

She grabbed that and put it around her neck. She then put the sweatshirt on and was greeted with Zak's familiar sent.

She walked over to her mirror and looked at herself.

Rose looked like a mess, but if Zak was here, he would have told her that she as beautiful.

She wrapped her hands around herself and took a deep breath in. Zak's smell was fading away, but it was still there and Rose would cherish it until it was completely gone.

She looked at herself right in the eyes.

"Don't worry." Rose said to herself. "I'll never leave you."

She smiled a faint smile as she heard Zak's voice in her own.

She then walked over to her bed and plopped down. She wrapped herself in her sheets.

She fell asleep with her hand gripped around her rose necklace.

* * *

Anna's feet hurt.

She had been walking for a long time.

She didn't take her car to go to Kara's. She was under house arrest so Anna had to sneak out.

Kara and Anna's houses weren't that far from each other's but it was still at least a ten-fifteen minuet walk and Anna was wearing sandals.

She turned a corner and saw a familiar face.

Chelsey.

"Hey!" Anna called after her. "Wait up!"

Chelsey turned around and saw Anna chasing after her. She stopped.

Anna stopped a few feet in front of Chelsey and stopped to catch her breath.

"Hi." Anna said in between breaths.

"Hi." Chelsey said in a not very happy tone.

Anna was taken back by this, but she ignored it.

"How are you and Dylan?" Anna asked. It pained her but she had to do it.

Chelsey scoffed. "Fine."

"Fine?" Anna questioned. "Does that mean that you two are together?" She wanted Chelsey to say no, but she _needed_ her to say yes. Chelsey had to live up to her promise with Anna.

A smirk fell over Chelsey's lips. "Absolutely. He was so upset about you dumping him that he fell right into my arms."

Hearing this made Anna want to stab scissors into her ears but she had to pretend like she was happy.

She faked a smiled. "That's great! So that's means he's happy and safe?"

Chelsey smiled. "Yeah. And speaking of him, I'm heading to his house right now. She said in a petty voice.

"His house?" Anna asked pained. Not even Anna had been invited to his house.

Chelsey nodded. "And you could probably bet what we're going to be doing."

Anna wanted to throw up. But instead, she brushed it off.

"I'm sorry." Chelsey said in a pathetically non-convincing voice. "I know you still love him."

Anna opened her mouth to object, but Chelsey interrupted.

"Oh wait," She started off, "I guess you are over him, since you're not wearing your bracelet."

Anna took a step back. "How do you know about my bracelet?"

Chelsey pointed down to Anna's wrist. "You're not wearing it."

"But how did you know it was connected to Dylan?"

Anna saw a flash of fear glint in Chelsey's eyes, but they soon turned back to their snobby self. "I just figured it was from him. Who else would give you a bracelet?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I guess you're right." She said in a mad tone. She was done pretending to be nice.

Chelsey smiled a wicked smile.

Anna pointed over her shoulder. "I'm going to head home now."

Chelsey tilted her head. "Alright, have fun."

Anna then turned around and walked off. She was so sick of Chelsey, but she needed to make sure that Dylan was happy and okay.

But it really hurt knowing that he was.

She kept her head down and walked off down the street. She stared at her bare wrist and rubbed it.

She missed her bracelet. She could have gotten it back but it would mean that she would have to get a tracker in her neck.

Now that A had her bracelet, Anna was almost positive that she would never get it back.

Anna looked up right as she ran into another person.

She crashed hard on the ground and scraped up her knee.

"I'm so sorry," Anna said, beginning standing back up. "It was my-" She stopped when she stood up and saw who she bumped into.

"Hi, Anna."

It was Dylan.

"Hi." Anna squeaked out.

Dylan stuck his hand out and offered to help her up. Anna gratefully accepted.

When she was off the ground, Anna stared at Dylan awkwardly. She hasn't seen him since she broke up with him.

"Why aren't you with Chelsey?" She asked.

"Chelsey? Why would I be with her?" He asked. He seemed generally confused.

"Because I was just talking to her and she said she was going to your house."

Dylan still looked confused.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Anna asked, rubbing the scratched up patch on her knee.

Dylan nodded. "Yeah, I'm lost."

"So you're not dating Chelsey?" Anna asked.

He laughed. "No."

Anna felt herself lighten up. He was still single!

But… that also meant that Chelsey lied and Dylan was on his own.

"You okay?" Dylan asked. He must have seen the anger on Anna's face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Anna lied as she crossed her arms. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." He said.

There was an awkward silence.

"No, weird messages or attacks?" Anna asked.

"You mean A?" Dylan said. "No. Nothing."

"Good."

"How about you?"

Anna hesitated. "A few things." She said, looking down at her feet.

"Like what?" Dylan pressured.

"Just some texts, but nothing serious." Anna lied. If she told Dylan about the kidnapping, he would want to get involved again.

"Where's your bracelet?" He asked out of the blue.

Anna looked down at her bare wrist. "I didn't want to lose it so I took it off before I left."

"So you still wear it?" He asked with a small smile on her face.

"Of course I do; it's beautiful." Anna said.

She really missed that damn bracelet.

Anna itched her neck awkwardly. "My parents are expecting me home soon so I should really get going."

Dylan nodded. "So when can I see you again?"

"I don't know." Anna said. "I guess the next time we run into each other on the streets."

Dylan looked upset. "You mean we can't…"

"Just because we talked doesn't mean we are getting back together." Anna said a little harshly. She just needed to get Dylan out of her life right now.

He looked down. "Okay." He said in a depressed tone.

"Bye, Dylan." Anna said in a sympathetic tone.

"Goodbye, Anna."

She sent a small smile to him and walked off.

It pained Anna to see him like this. She wanted more than anything to get back with him, but it seemed that her tactic of keeping Dylan away was working.

He had no attacks from A.

But there was one thing that confused Anna: Chelsey.

She completely lied.

When Anna first brought the idea to Chelsey, she seemed down to it.

But today, she seemed snobby and in a bad mood. And she tried to make Anna sad and jealous by saying all these things about her and Dylan.

From now on, Anna was staying away from her.

Anna stopped thinking about it and looked up. She was in front of her house.

He parents probably knew she was gone, and they couldn't have called her because Anna left her phone at home, so there was no doubt that her parents were probably going to kill her.

Oh well. It would take her mind off this Chelsey thing.

As soon as she opened the door, Anna was greeted with a hug.

She was shocked at first but she calmed down when she realized it was Brendon.

She patted his back a few times and then she pushed away from him and stared at him.

Did he have tears in his eyes?

"You're okay." He said in a stuffy tone.

"Anna Marion Cavanaugh!" She heard her mother yell from across the house.

Uh oh. Her mother used Anna's middle name.

This meant she was definitely going to get killed.

Spencer and Toby stormed through the house and stopped when they saw Anna.

"What were you thinking!" Spencer yelled.

"Did you forget that you were just held captive?" Toby said, a little calmer.

"Trust me, I didn't forget. I still have the constant pain in my ribs to remind me." Anna said, rubbing her ribs. They still ached from when A kicked her.

"Why did you leave? A could be out looking for you!" Spencer said in a stern voice.

"If A is looking for me, then they would have found me by now. And the first place they would look is here so it's better to be on the move." Anna said snottily.

"It doesn't matter." Toby began. "You're safer with us."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that Kara really needed me and the others." Anna said in a sad voice. Maybe this would calm her parents down a little bit.

"Why?" Brendon peeped from next to Anna.

"She was with Zak when…" She swallowed. "...when he died."

"Zak's dead?" Brendon said. He sounded hurt.

Anna nodded.

"Zak as in, used to be A, Zak?" Spencer asked.

Anna nodded. "He was trying to tell Kara something when A shot him."

"Oh my god." Brendon mumbled as he started pacing.

Anna watched as he left the room. She turned back to her parents.

"I knew you weren't going to let me go so I snuck out." Anna admitted.

"If you would have told us that we would have let you go." Toby said.

It was silent.

"I'm sorry." Anna said after a while.

"Don't apologize." Spencer said. "Just go see what's wrong with your brother and don't leave without telling us again."

"Deal." Anna said. She then turned and headed for the direction Brendon headed in.

He had turned the corner and went up the stairs. He was most likely in his room.

She walked up there and knocked on his door.

He opened it almost immediately with red puffy eyes.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked. She remembered how she thought he was A, but unless he was acting about being upset and concerned, (and we was _not a good actor)_ Anna was pretty sure he was in the clear.

Plus, there was no way that Brendon attacked Anna. He wouldn't have kicked her that hard.

He opened the door and let Anna in.

"Are you okay?" She asked again.

"Are _you_ okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you."

Brendon took a deep breath.

"I was scared you were dead." He said.

"Why would you think that, I was only gone for a few hours?"

"No, not now. Last night." He said. He then reached for his phone and unlocked it.

"Mom and Dad were starting to get worried because you wouldn't text back but then I got a text, and it wasn't from you." He then showed Anna the phone.

It was a picture of Anna, bloody and passed out.

This must have been after Anna had passed out and A kicked her in the ribs.

Anna _did_ look pretty dead.

"A sent this to me and told me to do something. They said that if I did it, they would let you and the others go. So of course I did it." Brendon said. His voice was shaking.

Anna took a deep breath. "What did you do?" She asked with fear.

"You said Zak was dead?" He asked with tears in his eyes.

"Yeah." Anna said in a worried voice.

"I think that's because of me."

* * *

"Get in it." Alison said sternly, pointing at the wheelchair.

"Mom!" Zoe groaned. She gestured to her working leg. "I'm fine without it."

"I don't care. The doctor said you need to be in it so you are going to be in it."

Zoe rolled her eyes and started to walk to the chair. She knew that there was no way to win an argument against Alison.

If Jason was here, maybe he would let her walk around.

He was much less strict about everything and he understood what the word "fun" meant.

But he left last night. Once he knew Zoe was safe and at home, he got on a plane and headed back to California.

Zoe took her time walking to the chair. She sat down in it with a loud _thunk_.

Emily came from the other room and hugged her purse close to her body.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

Zoe nodded. She was going back to therapy with Amanda, but it was a little bit different this time. It was physical therapy instead of mental therapy. Even though she wished it was both.

Emily and Zoe got in the car and took the short five minute awkward drive to the therapy office.

It was the same building as the first time.

Zoe got out of the car and walked to the back to retrieve her wheelchair.

She unhooked it from the back as Emily watched.

"You shouldn't be standing." She said.

"I'm fine." Zoe said, lowering the hair to the ground. "I'm standing perfectly fine and there is no pain."

Emily stared at Zoe with a glint in her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

Zoe opened the chair. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt." Emily replied.

Zoe tried her best to hold in a laugh. _It's a little late for that,_ she thought.

"I'm pretty tough, mom." Zoe said.

"I know you are." Emily replied, locking the car. "But I just don't want you to get your hopes up. You've been through so much in the past through months and if Amanda says something like you walking damaged your leg even more, I don't want you to be even more heartbroken."

Zoe shook her head as she sat down in the chair. "She won't say anything like that."

"Why so?" Emily asked as she began to push Zoe towards the building.

"Because there is nothing wrong with my leg. If there was, I would have felt it by now."

Emily didn't say anything. She only grabbed Zoe's shoulder and squeezed it a few times.

When the two walked in, Zoe was happy to see Cory sitting in the waiting room.

He smiled and sat up. Zoe smiled too.

"Hi, Zoe." He said. He then looked up at Emily. "Hi, Mrs. DiLafields."

"Hi, Cory." Emily said back in a sweet voice.

"If you don't mind, I can take Zoe up to Amanda." He offered.

Zoe turned her head to look at her mother. She mouthed the word "please" over and over again.

Emily looked down at Zoe and then back up to Cory.

"Sure." Emily said in a cheery tone. She then tapped Zoe on the shoulder. "Just text me when you're done so I can come and get you."

"Okay, I will." Zoe said, not taking her eyes off Cory.

Emily let go of the wheelchair and started to walk out the door.

"Bye, Zoe." She said.

"Bye, mom." Zoe called after her.

She then turned back to Cory with a huge smile on her face.

"It's good to see that you're in a good mood." He said, also with a smile on his face.

"I'm just happy to see you." Zoe said.

She hadn't seen him in a while. In fact, Zoe hasn't even spoken to him about the cabin thing.

She would tell him, but now wasn't the time.

Cory grabbed the back of Zoe's chair and wheeled her over to the elevator. They went up to the second floor, the elevator buzzed and the doors opened.

Zoe was shocked to see Amanda waiting for them outside the door.

"Hey, Zoe." She said in a cheery tone.

"Hi, Amanda!" Zoe said back. She was so happy that she was back with Amanda. Zoe felt comfortable telling her about everything.

"Hi, Cory." She said.

"Hi." He said back.

Amanda turned her attention back to Zoe. "My office is just around the corner." She said. "So if you'll follow me…" She said, walking off down the hallway.

Cory pushed Zoe down the hallway and Amanda held the door open for the two.

Inside the room there were lots of things. Ramps, yoga balls, small weights, and two parallel metal beams. They were probably for practicing to walk.

"Alright." Amanda said, opening up Zoe's file. "It looks like you're finally able to try walking."

Zoe smiled. "Actually…" She started off. "I _can_ walk."

"What?" Cory said from behind her.

"Excuse me?" Amanda asked, obviously confused.

"Something came up and I was forced to stand up and rush over there, so instinct took over and I walked."

Amanda put down Zoe's file and slowly walked over to Zoe. "You walked?"

"And ran and jumped and climbed. I've done it all." Zoe said with excitement, but it seemed like Amanda was extremely confused.

"And have you walked since…since this incident?"

"Yeah." Zoe said. "I walked around this morning."

"Can you do it for me now?" Amanda asked.

Zoe nodded. "Sure." She bent down and re-adjusted the straps on her brace. When she was done, she stood up with ease.

She then looked around the room. "Where should I walk to?"

Cory walked across the room. "Walk to me."

Zoe nodded and took her first step slowly. Sometimes it was difficult taking the first step but she got the hang of it after a while.

She walked across the room easily and stopped in front of Cory. She smiled a seductive smile at him.

"See?" She chirped.

"Wow." Amanda said from behind her.

"Not even a limp." Cory said as he looked at her up and down.

Zoe turned towards Amanda. "Why is this so shocking?"

"Because in your file it said the doctors never thought you would walk again, at least not without help, even with that it would take _years_ of therapy and training. But you came in her and just…" She trailed off. She then gestured to Zoe. "Walked." She finished.

Zoe smiled. "I guess I'm just special."

"Yeah you are." Cory said from behind her.

She turned to look at him. He was smiling at her.

When Zoe looked back at Amanda, she still seemed confused.

"Amanda…" Zoe said. "Isn't it a miracle?"

"It's impossible, that's what it is." She said.

Zoe scrunched up her face. "Impossible?"

"Impossible without tons and tons of steroids."

Zoe's face fell.

"What?" She and Cory said at the same time.

"There is no way that this is possible without it, and it says nowhere in the file that the doctors prescribed you the medications." Amanda said, looking at Zoe suspiciously.

"Zoe…" Cory said, grabbing Zoe's arm. "What does this mean?"

"I'm not doing drugs if that's what you're suggesting." Zoe said with anger in her voice.

"It's not possible without it." Amanda said, crossing her arms.

"Or maybe it's just a miracle and we should all be happy for me." Zoe said, imitating Amanda by crossing her arms.

Amanda didn't say anything.

"Wow." Zoe said to herself. She turned around and glared at Cory. "You believe me right?"

He hesitated but he eventually said. "If you say you aren't doing drugs then you aren't."

"Thank you." Zoe said louder than necessary. She wanted Amanda to hear.

Zoe then grabbed Cory's arm. "We're leaving."

But when Zoe walked, Cory didn't.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

"Look, I believe you but I have to be here." He said.

"Why?" Zoe scolded.

"Unlike you, not all of us are miracles." He said, shaking his leg that has the limp.

Zoe looked at him. "Okay." She then nodded her head slightly at Amanda. "Just don't trust anything she says about me."

Cory didn't say anything, but he reached out and kissed Zoe on the forehead.

"I'll see you later." He said.

"Bye." Zoe said.

She then stomped out of the room and into the elevator.

It was when the doors closed that Zoe remembered that she forgot her wheelchair.

She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Cory.

 **Get my wheelchair on the way out.**

 **-Zoe**

She then put her phone back in her pocket and walked out of the building.

Zoe wasn't going to call her mom to come pick her up. She wasn't in there long enough for Zoe to tell her mother that she and Amanda had been doing leg exercises and for it to be believable.

So, to kill some time, Zoe figured that she should do something that she hadn't done in a while.

Go for a walk.

A real walk.

She was walking for not even five minutes when she felt her phone buzz.

Thinking it was Cory, Zoe pulled out her phone and looked at the text.

 _ **;)**_

That was it.

Just a wink face.

And it wasn't from Cory. If it was, it would have his contact name above the text.

This could most possibly be A, but A usually signed their texts.

Zoe sighed and put her phone back in her pocket.

She started walking and decided to head home when it started to get dark out.

Zoe was surprised that she hadn't gotten any texts during that whole time.

None from A, her parents, or Cory.

You would think Zoe would have got something.

She pulled out her phone and refreshed her messages.

Nothing.

It was then that Zoe heard a voice.

"Hello, Zoe." The voice said in a long drawn out tone.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She knew exactly who spoke. She heard his voice every night in her nightmares.

"You're supposed to be in jail." Zoe said as she turned around and looked at him.

"Someone gave me the slip." Daniel said in a childish tone.

Zoe looked around her. How is it that she always ended up in lifeless allies?

"I'm not afraid of you." Zoe said. She lied. She totally was, but she felt like she had gained a lot more strength since their last encounter.

"Then how come you're shaking?"

"I'm not." Zoe said. Her confidence failed as her voice shook.

She began to reach in her back pocket for her phone.

"It's pointless reaching for your phone." He said in a happy tone.

It made Zoe want to throw up.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you wondered why nobody has texted you in the past few hours?"

Zoe didn't reply.

"I got someone to cut off your phone line." He said casually.

Zoe felt her body start to shake.

"You're all alone." Daniel said. He then smirked. "Alone with me."

Zoe took a step back, but she ran into something.

No not something. _Someone_.

She turned to look at the person in a black hoodie.

She gasped as she felt hands around her neck.

She tried to kick A away, but it was useless.

As Zoe began to run out of breath, she felt a pinch in the back of her neck, and then the sound of hideous laughter.

And then all the air left Zoe's body and she collapsed.

* * *

 **AN: Wow.**

 **It seems like A is mad.**

 **Hopefully now you can see the pattern. If you can, then you know what's next.**

 **;)**

 **Alright, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	39. Little Green Dot

**AN: Ugh…**

 **I hate school so much!**

 **Are any of you guys out for summer yet?**

 **I get out Wednesday and that is WAY TO LONG OF A WAIT!**

 **Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Zoe shot up quickly and out of breath.

She gripped the ground hard with sweaty fingers as she looked around, not sure where she was.

The last thing she remembered was being chocked by A while Daniel watched.

The memory scared Zoe, and she felt a shiver go down her spine.

She steadied her breath and looked around. She was in an unfamiliar room.

It was dark and musty, with little things here and there.

There were wigs, weird Knick knacks, and weird articles of clothing.

Zoe stood up with shaky legs and looked around some more.

The room wasn't that big, and there wasn't much to explore.

She turned around and faced another wall. Her eyes were wide as she saw what was before her.

Weapons.

Lots of them.

Guns, knives, more guns and more knives.

A large display of computer monitors were on a large desk. Zoe took careful steps and looked at each and every screen.

There were at least ten streets being filmed. There was Main Street, the road that led out to the woods, there was one of Noel Kahn's cabin, and all of the girl's houses.

Another screen, the largest, was pitch black.

Except for the green blinking dots.

There were three of them, all with numbers and letters labeling them. They were all in different places.

Zoe had no idea what they meant.

She turned back around.

It was hard to see from the lack of lighting. Zoe counted two total lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling.

The rest of the light came from the computer screens.

As she walked around, she reached in her pocket and retrieved her phone.

She pulled it out and looked at it.

Zoe knew that the thing was useless, Daniel had said that him and A had canceled her number, but the thing still had a flashlight she could use.

She turned the phone on and turned on the flashlight.

As soon as she did this, she tripped over something. She stumbled and caught herself as she flashed the light over to the thing she tripped on.

It was a loose wooden floorboard.

Zoe crouched down and set down her phone. She pulled out the board and stared into the black hole.

She couldn't see anything.

She grabbed her phone and shined the flashlight into it.

Nothing but straw.

Straw with a large lump in it.

Zoe reached her shaking hand into the hole and dug through the straw.

She yelped when her hand grazed over a smooth object.

She felt it's rolled up shape, and before something jumped out and dragged her down the hole, Zoe grabbed the thing and ripped her hand out.

She squinted her eyes as she looked at the thing.

It was a large rolled up piece of paper.

She opened her eyes fully as she unwrapped the thing.

Zoe looked at the paper at its full length.

There were a bunch of squares and circles and lines that Zoe couldn't understand.

"What the…" She said to herself as she looked at it.

Zoe looked at it closer.

In the smallest writing, Zoe could see some words.

"Park…" She read outloud. "Highschool, police station, main street…"

Zoe felt her heart tighten up. "Zoe's house." She read outloud.

It was then that Zoe realized what this was.

It was a map of Rosewood.

But why would A need this?

Rosewood isn't that big, and unless A has only been living there for a week, they should know where everything is.

Zoe scratched her head and looked up.

Her eyes were drawn to the computer screens again.

The blinking green dots in particular.

Zoe looked at the dots, and then back at the map.

The dots, the map, the dots the map.

Zoe grabbed the map and walked over to the computer.

When she unfolded it, the corners of the paper lined up perfectly with the corners of the computer.

Zoe saw clips on the edges of the computer, so she stuck the paper under those.

She looked at the paper, and through it she could see the three dots.

One dot, number KCHR1, was in Kara's house.

That was obviously Kara.

Another dot, number REAF2, was in Rose's grandparent's house.

So that was Rose.

And the last dot, number ZAED3, was somewhere labeled only with a single letter:

A.

That dot had to be Zoe. It had to be because Zoe knew for a fact that Anna doesn't have the tracker in her.

But what does "A" mean?

Was Zoe in A's lair? Was this were A spent all of their time when they weren't trying to kill the girls?

If so, then where is A now?

Did they know that Zoe was here? They had to because who would put her there?

The other three girls obviously didn't know that the lair existed, because if they did they would tell the group.

So the only culprit had to be A.

What if A wanted Zoe to find all this? What if they wanted to torture Zoe with the idea that A knew where everyone was at all times and that there was nowhere they could run off to?

Zoe shook her head and put her head in her hands.

This was a nightmare. There was nowhere for the girls to hide.

And A had made several threats that they would do something if the girls took the trackers out.

So what could Zoe do?

Just as Zoe was about to have a migraine, she heard a loud stomp come from above her.

She froze in place and held her breath.

More footsteps sounded. They were coming closer. They got louder as they made their way to the stairs.

They were heading towards the lair.

Knowing that this had to be A, Zoe realized that she _had_ to hide.

She grabbed the map from the hinges and rolled it up.

She considered ripping it, but then A would know that Zoe was there and had figured it out.

But then again, A had to know she was there, so ripping the map wouldn't do anything.

Well, it would anger A even more, so Zoe figured that ripping it wasn't a good idea.

Zoe threw the map down the hole and covered it in straw. When it was fully hidden, She put the floorboard back on and looked around.

There was nowhere to go.

The only optional area was the dark shadows in the corners, so that will have to do.

Zoe ran over there as she heard the footsteps clank down the stairs.

She was a mannequin and figured she was small enough to hide behind it, so she did.

It was her only option.

Zoe held her breath as she heard the footsteps echo in the room.

She stayed silent, but an annoying itch on her neck was torturing her and she _needed_ to itch it or she would go mad.

It was then that she realized that the itch was from the tracker.

And that tracker was one of the green dots on the computer.

And if A took out that map and held it to the computer and saw that Zoe was in the lair…

Well, Zoe would take her final breaths.

She took little breaths as she heard the footsteps head over to the other side of the room.

Thinking she was safe, Zoe took a deeper breath than normal. Little did she realize, that big breath caused tones of air bubbles to grow inside her stomach.

Then Zoe heard her stomach rumble louder than a dying whale.

She pinched her eyes closed and held her breath as she waited for A to run over there and… and do whatever they were going to do.

And Zoe's nightmare came true when she heard the room go still.

There was nothing. Not a sound. It was so quiet that Zoe could faintly herself blinking.

The silence lasted for what felt like forever, but it was only a minute.

Then the heavy footsteps started to head towards Zoe.

She knew that she would stay hidden until A was only inches from her, but there was nothing she could do once A got there.

Well, she could fight.

The only problem was that Zoe was small and weaponless. A was strong, she had the fingermarks on her neck to prove it.

But she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Zoe was too selfish for that.

She came up with a plan seconds before A got there.

She saw their fingers grip the mannequin and move it aside. As soon as her shot was clear, she lunged.

"Agh!" Zoe yelled as she grabbed their waist and pulled them down to the ground. She landed with her body sitting on top of A's and her weight pinned them down.

"Hey, stop!" They called out with their hands protecting their face.

Zoe recognized their voice immediately.

"Brendon?" Zoe asked, out of breath with her fists raised.

Zoe then heard more footsteps approach her quickly.

"Zoe, what are you doing?"

She turned to the speaker. It was Anna.

Zoe started at Anna and then back at Brendon. Her eyes flickered madly between the two.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Zoe yelled at Anna.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Anna yelled back.

"Could you _please_ get off me!" Brendon said before Zoe and Anna could get back to arguing.

Zoe looked down at him and saw his face was starting to get red. She got off of him and whispered, "Sorry." She then stormed over to Anna.

"How did you get in here?" She asked as she stormed over.

"The shop entrance, how did you get in here?" Anna answered in a confused/mad voice.

"I don't know." Zoe answered. "I've never been here before. A and Daniel did something to me and when I woke up I was here." Zoe said, looking around.

"A and Daniel?" Anna questioned in a concerned tone.

Zoe shook her head. "I'll explain later." She then let a stern look take over her face. " _You_ need to explain why you're here."

Anna looked over at Brendon, who was shining a flashlight on the two girls. They had a conversation merely on looks and then turned back to Zoe.

"I can't…" She trailed off.

"What?" Zoe said in a provocative voice. "Tell me?" She finished for Anna.

Anna looked down at the ground. There was definitely something her and Brendon were hiding.

"Whatever." Zoe said, crossing her arms. It was silent for a few minutes before Zoe eventually asked, "Have you been here before?"

A guilty look washed over Anna's face. "Yeah I have."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "When did you first come here?"

"It was after I had broken up with Dylan and then I remembered how…" She looked at Brendon again. "… Something about the shop felt weird and I was drawn to it so I went in." Zoe rolled her eyes again. She noticed how Anna had completely changed the subject. "I saw a cable leading down here so I followed it and found the lair."

"How long ago was this?" Zoe asked, still angered.

"I was scared that if I told-"

Zoe interrupted Anna. " _-How long ago?_ " She said through gritted teeth.

"It's been a few weeks."

Zoe uncrossed her arms and pointed a stern finger at Anna. "You've know about this for weeks and never told anyone?"

"I would've told you all but A threatened to hurt my dad if I didn't leave!" Anna said in a desperate voice.

"You think you're the only one with threats!" Zoe snapped. "A has something on all of us, Anna! They've burned down Rose's house, they brought back the man who raped me to torment me and put the tracker in my neck. Because of that, there is a little green dot that marks my every move, but guess who doesn't have one. You. A killed Noah, and they killed Zak right in front of Kara! Did you forget how A caused us to drive into the woods and crash? Or did you forget because nothing serious happened to you?" Zoe pointed at her brace. "I certainly haven't forgotten. Through all of this shit that's happened, we have all told each other everything, and something as big as finding A's freaking lair, which could have _thousands_ of clues on who this person is, well that's no exception." Zoe finished with her eyes staring directly into Anna's and her hand shut into a fist.

Anna stared back with glossy eyes. "You're right."

Zoe unclenched her fist. She moved her glare between Brendon and Anna.

"It was wrong not telling anyone." Anna said. She kept darting her eyes away from Zoe's. "I'm sorry."

Zoe blinked and softened her glare. She looked over at the loose floorboard.

"There's something I need to show you." She said, walking over to it.

Zoe would show them what she found, but she definitely would _not_ say sorry.

* * *

Anna watched as Zoe walked over to the middle of the room and bent down.

Anna and Brendon both stayed quiet. What Zoe had said really took Anna by surprise.

She knew that all the girls had it bad, but Zoe really put into perspective. All the girls had some terrible threat on them and Anna had no right to keep the lair a secret.

Zoe grabbed at the floorboards and started to rip them out.

"Zoe?" Anna questioned. "What are you…" She stopped talking when Zoe ripped the wood out of the ground.

Zoe stared up at Anna and Brendon with a stern look. She was obviously disappointed in Anna and she didn't blame her.

Anna just hoped Zoe would forgive her.

Zoe looked back down into the ground and reached her hand down the hole. When she pulled it back out, she was holding a large rolled up piece of paper.

She stood up and walked over to the computers. Zoe pointed at one of the screens.

"You see these?" She said.

Anna looked at where she was pointing. It was a black screen with a three green dots blinking on and off, all labeled with numbers and letters that Anna didn't understand.

"Yeah." Brendon said.

Anna snapped back into reality and remembered Zoe was trying to explain something to the two of them.

"What are they?" Anna asked back. "I didn't see this last time I was here."

Zoe unrolled the paper and handed a corer to Brendon.

"Take this." She told him. He took it without question.

When Zoe and Brendon held the map out, Anna was confused to see a bunch of squares and lines.

She stared up at Zoe with a confused look.

"I was confused at first too." Zoe said, reading Anna's expression. "But then I held it up to the screen." She finished, nodding to the computer.

Anna looked at the computer and then to the paper. "It's a map isn't it?" Anna asked.

"A map of Rosewood?" Brendon asked also.

Zoe nodded. "Yeah." She answered. She then brought Brendon and the map over to the computer. She clipped the corners to the computer and stood back.

The green dots blinked through the paper in different squares.

Anna, still confused, stared at Zoe. "I don't…"

Zoe took a deep breath and pointed at the screen. "Those green dots are us."' She started.

She pointed to each individual dot. "That's Rose in her grandparents' house." Zoe said.

She then moved her finger to a dot a little further away. "That's Kara." She squinted at the paper. "It looks like she's in the brew now. She was in her house ten minutes ago."

She shrugged and moved her finger to the last dot in the tiniest square on the map.

"And that's me." She said in a sad tone. "In A's lair."

"Where's Anna's dot?" Brendon asked as he studied the map.

"I haven't been injected with the tracker yet." Anna said. She stared at the green dots with a mixture of amazement and horror.

A found a perfect way to track the girls. It was terrifying to Anna, but it was brilliant.

"That means you're next." Zoe said.

Anna looked over at Zoe. She had a slightly worried look on her face.

"A won't get me." Anna said with little confidence.

"We all thought that and now our existence can be consumed into one little dot." Zoe said. She looked at the screen and sighed.

Anna put her head down, unsure on what she should say.

"You need to be careful." Zoe said in a more stern voice.

Anna looked back up at her. "A will do _anything_ to put that tracker in you. They'll use the cruelest methods."

Anna nodded her head. "I'll be careful."

Zoe took a deep breath and looked at the two. "Do you guys know what time it is?"

Anna took a second to process the weird question that was totally out of place. Then she answered, "Um… six o'clock maybe."

Zoe's face went pale. "Oh god, I've been gone all day." She said with wide eyes.

Anna then remembered how Zoe had said that she woke up in the lair after Daniel and A attacked her.

"Go." Anna said. "Your parents are probably freaking out so go."

Zoe took a shaky breath. "Yeah okay." She then looked around. "How do I get out?"

"Down the hallway and up the stairs and walk strait. You'll find the door. And the shop is across from the park so walk home from that."

Zoe nodded. "Thanks." She then turned around and rushed for the stairs, but she quickly turned back around. "Be safe." She said in a serious tone.

Anna nodded her head. "I will."

Zoe smiled a half smile and headed for the stairs.

Anna and Brendon remained silent as they listened to Zoe's booming footsteps exit the shop.

Once the footsteps stopped, Anna turned to Brendon. She let out a sharp breath.

"That was crazy." Brendon said.

Anna nodded and looked at the screen with the dots. She followed the dot that read ZAED3 as it moved around the map. Anna didn't take her eyes off it until she saw it enter the square labeled "Zoe's house."

Anna then turned to Brendon. "Did you know this was here?"

Brendon's eyes opened wide. "No." He said in a defensive tone.

"Then why the hell do you sneak in here?" Anna asked, reminding him of the time she saw him sneak into the shop.

"I've never been in this building in my life!" He said. His voice was higher. It was like that when he lied.

"Brendon, don't even start." Anna said in an annoyed tone. "I've seen you sneak in here."

Brendon then went silent. She saw his jawline get sharper as he tried his best to keep his face calm. "I walked into the wrong building. I meant to go to the brew."

"The brew is on the other side of town." Anna said, catching his lie.

"Okay, get off my back!" He said, storming across the room.

"Hey!" Anna called after him. "Did you forget why we're here?"

Brendon turned back around and said nothing.

"Did you forget what you told me?"

He put his head down, still saying nothing.

"You told me that you think Zak's death might have been your fault. Then when I mentioned the lair, you asked for me to take you. Does any of this ring a bell?" Anna said as she crossed her arms and slowly made her way over to Brendon.

"Yes, I remember." He said in a snarky tone.

"Then what did you want to come here for?" Anna asked when she was only a few feet away from him.

Brendon hesitated before answering. "I want to see if there is anything about Zak's death. Like about why he died."

"Brendon, Zak was shot, I told you this."

Brendon moved over to the desk in the middle of the room and began to search through the papers.

"I know he was shot, but _why_ was he shot." He said as he chucked papers behind him.

Anna looked at the papers, knowing that she would have to pick them up and put them back without A noticing that anything was wrong.

"Brendon…" Anna said in a calm voice. "What do you think you did to make him die?"

Brendon came down to the last paper and grunted. He then sat down in the chair and started going through files on the computer.

"Brendon!" Anna said a little sterner. "Be careful with that."

He didn't say anything, he just looked at the screen and scrolled.

"And answer my question." Anna added.

He shook his head and kept typing.

"Brendon!" Anna yelled but he still didn't do anything.

Realizing she had enough of Brendon's bullshit, Anna slammed her hand down on the table and forced Brendon to look at her.

"What did you do!" She yelled.

"A told me to get rid of him so I did!" Brendon yelled back.

Anna was silent as her mouth hung open.

Both of them were silent.

"What did you do?" Anna asked again as her voice cracked.

Brendon swallowed. "A told me that if I got rid of Zak, he would let you and the others go. So I found Zak, and started to beat him."

Anna felt her eyes water. "And then what?"

"I thought he was dead when I left him bloodied on the street. I didn't want him to be, but I thought he was. So I left him them in the road."

Anna stayed silent.

"Not long after, you and the others came back and then I knew for sure that _I_ killed him, but then Kara said A shot Zak in front of her and… and then I wasn't sure what I actually did."

"Brendon, you didn't kill him, so why do you think your actions killed Zak?" Anna asked. She was disgusted with what Brendon was telling her, but he didn't kill Zak.

"I could have done so many other things. I could've told Zak to leave, to run away and pretend I killed him. I could have hit him and draged him away somewhere while he was knocked out. If I had done one of these thing, A wouldn't have known Zak was alive and then shoot him." Brendon finished with a tear rolling down his face.

Anna went to go comfort him, but he quickly got out of his chair and wiped the tear away.

"You can't blame yourself for this." Anna said as he started to take the map off the computer and gather up all the papers.

"A would have found a way to kill Zak anyways. A always find a way." Anna said as she put the papers back and helped Brendon put the map down in the ground and put the floorboard back in.

"Don't say that." Brendon said as he stood up.

"A always finds a way, Brendon." Anna said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"And I refuse to believe that."

Anna shook her head. He was being so stubborn and false minded. He couldn't believe this because if he did, he would put his guard down and he would be an easier target.

"Why?" Anna asked.

"Because if A can do anything, then he can put the chip in you and do whatever he wants to you."

Anna swallowed and didn't say anything. She looked around the room. It looked the same as it did when they entered.

"We should go." Anna said, grabbing Brendon's arm. "A probably knows were here and I don't want to be anywhere near them when they return."

He nodded his head. "Yeah, let's go."

Anna then led him out of the lair and out of the shop.

He still hasn't mentioned why he was in here the first time she saw him sneak in, but now wasn't the best time to ask. She would bug him about it later.

As the two walked out into the sunlight, Anna was blinded from the sudden change of lighting.

She put a hand to her forehead to block out the sun and waited for her eyes to adjust.

Once they did, Anna saw something that made her stomach do a backflip.

Someone was walking down the alley across from the shop.

Seeing only the back of their head, Anna wasn't one hundred percent sure if it was actually them, but when they turned around to see if anyone was watching him, Anna got a clear shot of his face and she knew it was him.

Brendon saw it to. "Was that…?"

"It can't be." Anna said. "He's dead."

"Obviously not." Brendon said in a quiet voice.

Anna was frozen in place as she watched his head bob up and down the alleyway.

She uttered his name as he turned a corner.

"Zak."

* * *

 **AN: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUN!**

 **Cliffhanger!**

 **xD**

 **For the numbers and letters labeling the dots, all the numbers and letters stand for something, for example: KCHR1 is...**

 **K- Kara**

 **C- Caleb**

 **H- Hanna**

 **R- Rivers**

 **1- because Kara was the first one to get injected.**

 **This system is the same for the others.**

 **This was a pretty informative chapter so I hope you all paid attention and enjoyed!**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **-Jessica**


	40. FrAmed

**AN: Hiiiiiiii!**

 **So I have finals this week up until Wednesday and I know that this doesn't come out till Friday, but I do work on the chapter the entire week, so I'm going to apologize if this chapter is slacking a little.**

 **Finals are tough and I'm not doing so well with them so I'm trying to make my main focus that.**

 **But… by the time you read this, it'll be summer for me! So that means better chapters and more time to write!**

 **Thanks for your cooperation!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kara woke up with a pounding on her front door.

She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them.

More pounding sounded and Kara listened as footsteps rushed downstairs to the front door.

She sat up and stretched, thinking nothing of the knocking. But, not long after she did this, Kara heard her mother.

"Kara!" Hanna yelled from downstairs.

She got up from her bed and took her time before she replied, "What?"

She picked up her brush and started to brush through the knots in her hair as Hanna called back.

"Can you come down here for a minute?"

Kara put the brush down and looked at herself. She looked tired, and that was very appropriate.

She had only gotten a few hours of sleep that night. Constant nightmares of Zak always woke her up.

Well, at least her hair looked nice.

Kara rubbed her face and opened her door. "Coming!" She yelled down.

She yawned as she walked down the stairs and when halfway down, Kara froze in place.

Tons of police officers were at Kara's door. There were at least three police cars parked on her lawn also.

Kara looked at her mother who held open the door and her father who stood at the bottom of the stairs with worried looks.

Hanna looked away while Caleb raised his eyebrows and looked down.

Kara finished walking down the stairs. She stared at the herd of police officers. She only recognized one.

Victoria.

Kara walked up to her and asked. "What's this about?" She didn't really need to ask.

Kara was almost positive that this was about Zak.

Victoria squinted her brown eyes. "You know what this about."

"I really don't." Kara lied. She wanted the police officers to explain so she would be able to hear everything they know.

Victoria continued to glare at Kara. Kara tried to avoid eye contact with her.

She barley knew Victoria, but from the few times they have met, Victoria has always been kind and understanding. What changed?

"Zak." One of the police officers called from behind Victoria. "This is about Zak Brighton."

Kara tried her best to sound unfazed. "Well, I know he's dead. I was there." Kara said to the police officer that spoke.

It was a man. He was a little on the fatter side and he was bald. He didn't look like the type of man that had any sympathy.

The man took a few steps forwards. "So you do know why we're here."

Kara turned around and looked at her parents. They seemed just as confused as Kara did, but they didn't say anything.

"I get why you would want to question me but why so many police officers?" Kara asked. She squinted as she looked at the officers. There were at least twenty.

Victoria laughed and turned to the chubby police officer. "She's playing dumb."

Kara scrunched up her eyes brows. At first she was pretending to be a little confused, but now she genuinely was.

"They always play dumb." Victoria said as she turned back to Kara.

Kara said nothing as her parents finally said something.

"Ok, what is this about?" Caleb said, stepping forwards to be next to Kara.

"You're being shadier than Kara is." Hanna said, walking next to her husband and daughter.

Kara was a little offended by her mother's comment. She was being shady?

She watched as Victoria slowly reached down to her belt. "Yes, Zak is dead." She began. "And you didn't report his body."

"Because I was scared of-" Kara was interrupted.

"Because you were scared that you would get caught." Victoria finished.

Kara's eyes followed where Victoria's hands were reaching.

Victoria was reaching for her gun.

Kara took a step back but that seemed to trigger the cops.

"Stop!" Victoria yelled as she pulled out her gun and pointed it at Kara.

Kara gasped and put her hands up as all the cops surrounded her and pointed their guns at her.

"What are you doing?" Hanna asked frantically.

Kara watched as her mother and father were held back by some other police officers.

She turned back to Victoria with a scared look on her face and her hands up.

" _You_ murdered Zak." Victoria said through gritted teeth.

Kara's mouth hung open.

"What?" Hanna yelled from behind Kara. From the sound of her voice, she was struggling. She was probably trying her best to get past the cops, even though it was impossible.

"I didn't do anything." Kara said in an innocent voice. "I was there when he was shot, but I didn't fire the gun."

Victoria chuckled. "Kara Rivers, you are under arrest for the murder of Zak Brighton. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Kara opened her mouth to object but her voice gave out when she felt the cold handcuffs squeeze around her wrists.

Kara turned to her parents who both had shocked looks on their faces.

"Can they do this?" Kara yelled. "Don't they need… evidence or something?" She pleaded.

Hanna opened her mouth but soon covered it with her hand. "I…" She began but trialed off.

"Don't worry." Caleb said. "Well find a way to get you out of this."

Kara then felt a hand on her head as it was pushed down forcefully.

She was brought to one of the police cars and was shoved into it quite forcibly.

"Ow!" Kara yelled when her head slammed on the seats.

The officer that threw her in there only gave her a dirty look and slammed the door closed.

She adjusted herself and looked out the window at her parents.

Hanna was crying while Caleb held her, but they were doing nothing to help Kara.

She took a second to process what was going on.

What evidence could the police possibly have on Kara? She did absolutely nothing to Zak!

And who told the police that Kara was with Zak when he died?

Was it A?

It had to be. A was the only one there and it is totally something A would do.

A police officer, the fat pudgy one, got in the front seat and started the car.

"I didn't do anything." Kara said through the grated window separating the two. "Whatever evidence you have against me nothing but saboatge."

She then sat back and said nothing else. It was smarter to say nothing but she had to say something.

Kara refused to be weak right now.

"Shut up, murderer." He said as he started to drive the car.

Kara wanted nothing more than to spit on him, but she didn't do anything.

He would twist her words and make it sound more like Kara was saying stuff a killer would say.

She swallowed hard as the car pulled out onto the main street. She stared out the window at the road.

The police station wasn't far from Kara's house.

Maybe Toby would be there. He would definitely do something to help Kara.

She slumped on the window and stared out. She saw her vision start to get blurry as tears started to form in her eyes.

Kara felt a wet tear drop on her arm.

Maybe crying was good. Maybe it would make the cops second guess themselves.

So instead of trying to fight the tears, Kara let them fall freely.

As she looked out the window, she saw that they were about to pass another cop car.

Kara eyed the license plate. It was very short.

In fact, it was one letter:

A

As the two pulled up to the car, Kara saw the driver.

It was a hooded figure. It was A.

Kara stared at them with rage. It _was_ A who set Kara up.

As Kara and the police officer zoomed by, A turned their head and faced Kara.

A brought their hand up to their neck and did the cut throat signal.

"Bastard." Kara said under her breath.

"Quiet!" The officer yelled.

Kara glared at the driver and when she looked back, the car was long gone.

Bastard.

* * *

Rose got up the next morning in a good mood. Yes, she was still down about Zak, but something just felt kind of…right.

She went downstairs to see her parents in the kitchen, making bacon and eggs and waffles and pancakes and well… everything they had in the kitchen.

"What are you guys doing?" Rose asked when she entered the kitchen.

Aria and Ezra turned to Rose with smiles on their faces and wide eyes.

"Happy Birthday!" They said to Rose in union.

She had completely forgotten. With everything that's been going on, she had forgotten that today she turned another year older.

"Thanks." Rose said with a smile. At least her parents remembered.

"Eighteen years old." Aria said as she walked over to Rose. "Wow." She finished as she hugged her.

Rose hugged back. When she released she saw her father standing close by with his arms outstretched. Rose chuckled as she hugged him too.

When they released, Ezra asked, "So, what do you want to eat?"

Rose wasn't really that hungry, but she wasn't going to let all this food go to waste.

"Bacon, eggs, and pancakes, please!" Rose said with a smile.

"You got it." Ezra said as he turned around and got back to work on the food.

While doing so, Aria grabbed Rose's arm and squeezed it. "I have exciting news for you."

Rose looked at her. "What?"

Aria bobbed up and down on her feet in excitement. "Our house is ready."

"What?" Rose asked in excitement.

"Really!" Ezra asked from the stove. "I didn't even know that!"

"I found out this morning while you were still asleep, Ezra, and as soon as you woke up you wanted to get started on the breakfast." Aria said to her husband.

"When can we move back in?" Rose asked.

"Tomorrow." Aria answered.

Rose smiled so big that her cheeks were starting to hurt.

"I need to start packing!" Rose said, heading for the stairs.

"Wait!" Ezra called.

She looked back at him.

"You need to eat first." He said, holding out a plate of food.

Rose came back and grabbed the plate.

She was way too excited to eat, but she forced the food down. Once the plate was clean, Rose rinsed it off, put it in the dishwasher, said thank you to her parents one more time, and then rushed to her room to start packing.

It wasn't that hard to pack. She didn't have much clothes and she had no personal items that were saved from the fire. Well, other than the rose necklace and the sweatshirt, which Rose still has no idea how they ended up in her closet.

Once all her clothes were packed, Rose looked around the room.

It was basically empty, except for the bed and dressers.

Rose looked at the messy bed and the little pig puppet lying on top.

She grabbed Pigtunia and looked at her. Rose put her hands in the puppet and stared at it.

"Happy birthday, Rose!" She made Pigtunia say in a high pitched voice.

"Thanks, Pigtunia!" Rose said back.

She stared at the pig again.

Rose was eighteen now. She shouldn't be playing with puppets.

She put Pigtunia down and started to zip the suitcase up. She put the suitcase on the ground and looked at the closet and then at Pigtunia.

She grabbed the stuffed pig and started to walk over to the closet.

Rose stood on her tiptoes as she tried to put the pig on the top shelf of the closet, but she was too short.

She went back on her flat feet and sighed. She looked at the puppet again.

"Fine." Rose said with a sigh.

She kept Pigtunia in her hands as she grabbed her suitcase and headed downstairs.

Maybe it was a sign for Rose to keep Pigtunia. Like, maybe she would need the puppet later on in life.

Rose walked downstairs with the suitcase thumping down the stairs behind her.

"That was fast." Aria said when Rose thumped down the last stair.

"There wasn't much to pack." Rose said, setting the suitcase aside.

Aria chuckled when she saw Rose carrying Pigtunia. "You know we're not leaving until tomorrow."

"I know."

"So what are you going to sleep in?"

Rose looked down at herself. She was still in Zak's sweatshirt with the rose necklace still around her neck.

"I'll sleep in this." Rose answered.

Aria gave her a weird look, but she walked away and said, "Okay," in a drawn out tone.

Rose watched her walk away with a smile on her face.

Then the doorbell rang.

Rose, being closest to the door, hopped down the last stair and answered the door.

It was Anna. She had a crazed look on her face.

"Hi." Rose said in a cheery tone.

"Hi." Anna said, not as enthusiastically.

"What are you doing here?" Rose said in an even happier tone than before.

"You need to come with me." Anna said as she reached her hand out and grabbed Rose's arm.

"Where are we going?" Rose said as she looked down at Anna's tight grip.

"There's too much to explain, just come with me." Anna said, tugging.

Before she was dragged out the door, Rose called out, "Mom, Dad, I'm heading out with Anna!"

A few seconds later she heard her mother say, "Okay, have fun!"

Rose turned back to Anna and allowed her to drag Rose outside and into her car.

Rose wasn't even able to buckle herself in before Anna stomped on the gas and the car went flying.

"Woah, slow down!" Rose said, gripping onto the armrests.

"We have no time, Rose!" Anna said, barley slowing down.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked again, but Anna didn't respond.

She thumped back in the front seat and stared straight ahead.

Anna hadn't wished Rose a happy birthday yet. Rose was the first one of the four to turn eighteen and that's a big deal, so the only explanation is…

"If you're taking me to a surprise birthday party, you failed at keeping it a surprise."

Anna looked confused as she stared at Rose.

"Birthday party…?" Anna mumbled under her breath. Her face then morphed into a shocked and disappointed expression.

"Oh my god, happy birthday Rose!" She said in a guilty voice.

Rose's jaw dropped. "No way." Rose began as she stared at Anna. "You forgot didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, it's just… I had to… I was distracted… I needed to…" Anna kept stuttering.

Rose stuck her hand out to silence Anna. "Forget it," she began, "just tell me where we are going."

"The police station." Anna answered.

Rose scrunched up her face in confusion. "Why are we going to the police station?"

"My dad said that they might have found a suspect on who killed Zak." Anna said, pulling into the police station parking lot.

"So that means that this suspect could be A." Rose said.

"Yeah." Anna said as she unbuckled and opened her door. "Except for the fact that Zak isn't dead." She said as she closed the door.

Rose opened the door and chased her down the parking lot. "What?!" She yelled from across the lot.

Anna turned around and looked at Rose. "He isn't dead."

Rose, getting a little angry now, charged up to Anna and grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"You need to explain!" Rose yelled.

Anna looked at Rose and then at the police station, that was flooded with cops.

"I saw Zak yesterday as I was leaving A's lair." Anna said.

Rose put her finger up, "Wait a second, 'A's lair'?!"

"Yes, that's another long story, but I was in there yesterday with Brendon and when we left I saw Zak creeping around an alleyway."

Rose shook her head. "So what are you going to do, tell the police that you saw him and expect them to believe you?"

"They'll have to believe me. My dad is on the police force, remember?"

"That's not enough evidence, Anna! It doesn't matter if your dad is a cop, they can't let a suspected murderer out because you think you saw Zak!" Rose yelled.

"I don't think I saw Zak, I know I saw Zak." Anna said with slight anger in her voice.

"It could have been someone who looked like him." Rose said.

"It was him, Rose." Anna said as she started to walk up the steps to the police station.

Rose followed a few steps behind and she watched as Anna was blocked off by a pudgy police officer.

"You can't go in there right now, ma'am." He said, holding out an arm.

When Rose caught up, she watched as Anna rolled her eyes and scanned the crowd of police officers.

She must have seen Toby because she yelled out, "Dad! Dad, come here!"

And a few seconds later, Toby appeared.

"Anna, what are you doing here?" Toby asked as he stepping in front of the bigger police officer. He looked at Rose. "Happy birthday." He said to her.

Even he remembered and Anna didn't.

"I have to tell you something." Anna said, getting her father's attention on her.

"Look, you'll have to tell me later, they think they found the suspect but… it can't be."

"But dad, there is no suspe-" Rose cut Anna off.

"Who's the suspect?" She said.

Anna was wrong. There was no way Anna could have seen Zak. The police officers found his body. So before the two got kicked out, Rose wanted to at least know who the asshole suspect was.

Toby looked at Anna and Rose with sympathetic looks.

"They think it was Kara." He said in a disappointed tone.

"What?!" Both Anna and Rose said at the same time.

"She's in there right now being interrogated. They got her this morning."

"Why do they think it was her, there's no evidence!" Anna yelled.

"There's a lot actually." Toby said.

"Like what?" Rose asked.

Toby hesitated. "I can't say."

Rose grunted. "Do you think it was her?"

Toby shook his head. "No. There's no way."

"What does everyone else think?" Anna asked.

"They're all pretty convinced." He said. "And if the judge proves she's guilty, the police will come after you two and Zoe."

"Why?" Rose asked. She felt herself start to sweat.

"Because you four are closer than anything and you do everything together." Toby said.

Rose felt herself start to cry. She looked at Anna and saw that she was struggling to.

Toby noticed. "Don't worry." He said in a calm voice. "I won't let that happen."

Anna sniffled. "Okay."

Toby opened his mouth to say something, but someone called, "Officer Cavanaugh!" in an angry voice.

It was Victoria. Did she think Kara was guilty?

Toby turned to the two. "I have to go. Go home, guys, and try your best to not get into any trouble." He then turned away and walked into the crowd of police officers.

Rose turned to Anna.

"Oh, god." Rose said as she put a hand to her heart. It was racing.

"What do we do?" Anna asked, putting her head in her hands.

Rose started to rub her face. After a minute she said, "You said you saw Zak?"

Anna nodded.

"We need to get proof." Rose said. "Kara _can't_ go to jail."

Anna nodded. "I think I know a way." She then started to walk back to the car and Rose was on her heels.

Just before the two reached the car, Rose felt her phone buzz.

She pulled it out with shaky hands.

 ** _Happy Birthday Rose! I think for your party, everyone should wear orange. Oh wait, you'll all be wearing it soon enough anyways. Have fun partying in jail! Xoxo!_**

 ** _-A_**

Rose closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and got in the car.

* * *

 **AN: Gahhhhhh!**

 **Again, I am so sorry that this chapter is so short, but next week it will be back to its normal length.**

 **The next chapter is going to be another one person perspective so be prepared.**

 **And, I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that the girls are going to get… taken pretty soon.**

 **So leave some ideas on some torture methods if you would like! :)**

 **That was one of the weirdest things I've ever typed. xD**

 **Please review guys!**

 **-Jessica**


	41. Accused

**AN: I got a lot of ideas from a lot of you and I had no idea that so many of you all are so creative!**

 **You all could write your own stories with your ideas and I know that I would read them!**

 **Also, if I don't use your idea, that does not mean that I don't like them. It means that I didn't feel like they were right for the story or that it didn't fit in with what I was trying to show.**

 **So, as I said before, this is a one character perspective chapter so it is very important.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Sit down!" Grunted a skinny male police officer as they shoved Kara down into a cold metal chair.

She looked around the room. It was dark and almost empty, besides the table and few chairs in the middle of the room.

There was also a mirror in front of Kara, but she knew that it was two-way glass and that there were officers on the other side watching Kara's every move.

The skinny police officer that forced Kara into the interrogation room gave her a cold stare as he stepped aside and stood in the corner.

Kara stared at him. "Are you going to ask me anything?" She tried her best to sound confident and not worried; even though she was more terrified then she had ever been in her life.

"Shh!" He said coldly. "I'm not the one asking questions."

Just as he finished his sentence, the door opened and Victoria walked in.

Before today, Kara actually liked her. She was kind and seemed to always be at the crime scenes when A did something and would comfort and help the girls. But today, it was like she was a completely different person.

She walked to the table that Kara was chained to and sat down across from her.

Victoria stared at Kara with her arms crossed. "Why did you do it?" She asked.

Kara lifted up her shoulders. "I didn't do anything to Zak."

"Stop lying!" Victoria yelled as she smacked the table. That caused Kara to jump.

She pinched her eyes closed as she said, "I'm not lying. I didn't kill Zak, but I know who did."

Victoria stood up from her chair and angrily made her way over to Kara. She crouched down and whispered in her ear,

"You killed Zak. You've never liked him, in fact, you despised the idea if him having to do anything with your pal Rose. While Rose was missing you knew Zak had something to do with it, and when she returned, she was safe and away from him, but out of the blue, he showed up again. You didn't want him to get close to Rose so you lured Zak out to an abandoned cabin and killed him. Nobody heard because you were too far from any other civilization, and you very poorly hid his body. You came back covered in his blood and used his death and how someone "killed him" as an excuse to why you were bloody when the blood was really from dragging the body. Everyone believed you because for the past few months you've put on the act of being the innocent, vulnerable, weak one of the group. You used this quality that you got everyone to believe and convinced all of your friends that someone else killed Zak. But I don't buy it, your DNA was left on the crime scene so you can try to come up with an excuse now but it will never be able to clear up the facts."

Kara's mouth hung open as Victoria finished her speech. She turned to the police officer and with a shaky voice as she said,

"I don't know where you got this crazy idea of me hating Zak enough to kill him from, but I can tell you now, that this whole scenario is rigged." Kara then looked down at her fingernails. She knew it was going to be tough to convince Victoria, but it was worth a shot.

"There's this person that's been…stalking, I guess you can call it, me and Rose and Zoe and Anna for the past few months. They go by the letter A. They are the ones that have been committing these crimes, not me." Kara admitted.

Victoria laughed. "That's the best you can come up with. I know how your mother and her friends went through this whole "A" thing and I can't believe you are dumb enough to think that I would not know that and believe you."

Kara looked at her with a serious look. "I know my mother went through the same thing, and some, maybe a descendant of some sort, took over the game. I don't know why, but this time they're targeting us. And before you can say anything else, you should look in my phone. I have _all_ the messages that A has ever sent me, including messages about how this A character murdered Zak. All the evidence of my innocence is on that phone."

Victoria glared at Kara. Her lip even twitched a few times.

She stood up and looked at the skinny police officer standing in the corner of the room.

"Watch her." She said. "I'm going to get the phone."

The officer nodded and Victoria left the room, slamming the door on the way out.

Kara stared at the officer.

"You believe me, right, Mr…" Kara squinted her eyes as she looked at his nametag. He didn't have one.

Kara looked up at him with a confused look. "I think you lost your tag."

"I didn't lose it." He said in a gruffly voice. "I'm not a police officer."

Kara sat up straight. "What? What are you?"

"It doesn't matter." He said, staring right at Kara. "I believe you though."

Kara slouched a little bit more. "You do?" She was a little bit shocked.

"Yeah, I do." He said as he looked away from Kara. "I know you're telling the truth because I know who this A person is."

Kara's eyes widened. "Mr., you have to tell me!" Kara said as she tried to sit up, but then she remembered how her handcuffs were stuck to the table.

"They know I'm here by now and I've already said too much." The man said. He looked around and put his hand on the doorknob.

"Good luck, Kara." He said with a smile as he opened the door and rushed out.

Toby walked in the door not even a minute after when the man left.

"Who was that guy?" Kara asked Toby.

He sat down across from Kara with a confused face. "Who?" He questioned.

"The man who was just in here. He said he wasn't a police officer but surely you know who he is." Kara said.

Toby shook his head. "I don't have a clue on who you're talking about but that's not important right now. We need to figure out how to get you out of here."

Kara leaned back and smirked. "I already figured it out."

"How?"

"I told Victoria about A and how all of their texts are on my phone. There are a few on there about A killing Zak and not me, so once Victoria sees that, she'll let me go and they'll find A instead of me."

Toby sighed. "That's smart of you to think that, but it won't work."

"Why?" Kara asked abruptly.

"We tried doing that a _long_ time ago when your mother and everyone else was targeted. A found a way to delete themselves from their phones and the police couldn't find any trace of A."

Kara's hands were starting to shake. "So what are we going to do?"

"We have to prove that you're innocent."

"And how are we going to do that?" Kara yelled.

Toby put his hand out to shush Kara. "I don't know yet." He said. "But you didn't do it so we'll find a way."

Kara swallowed down a sob. She tried her best to keep her voice steady as she asked, "When can I talk to my parents or Anna, Rose and Zoe? When can I talk to anyone?"

"Soon." Toby answered.

"I want to do it now, Mr. Cavanaugh." Kara said. She was balling her chained fists into balls.

"Kara, you'll get to talk to them soon." Toby said in a calm voice.

She slouched down as a tear ran down her face. "What about my one phone call?"

"Your what?" Toby asked. He was too busy biting his nails to have heard what Kara said.

"Don't I get one phone call?"

He nodded his head as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Yeah, here." He said, handing the phone to Kara.

"Thanks." She said as she looked down at the phone.

Who should she call? All her friends probably know how Kara's in jail right now, and she really didn't know how calling them would help. She _should_ call her parents, but they wouldn't know how to do anything. They would only reassure her that it was going to be okay when it wasn't. So, who should she call?

Kara quickly typed his number and brought the phone to her ear.

"Please pick up." Kara whispered when the phone started to ring.

After four rings, he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Owen, hi, it's Kara." She said as a few more tears flew down her face.

"Hey, Kara!" He said in his naturally cheery voice. "Why didn't you call on _your_ phone? Who's phone is this?"

"I'm using Mr. Cavanaugh's phone." Kara answered as she bit her nails and shook her leg nervously.

"Anna's dad? Why are you using his phone?"

"Because I'm in jail." Kara answered quickly.

It was silent on the other end of the phone. It was as if Owen had turned into a statue and didn't have the ability to make any sound whatsoever.

"Owen?" Kara said. "Are you still there?"

"You're in jail?" He asked in a sad voice. "For what?"

Kara took a deep breath. "For murder."

Owen made a weird noise. It was like a sob, scream, gasp and a cough had a baby named Owen's voice box.

"Murder!" Owen yelled after the sound.

"I didn't do it, Owen. I'm being accused." Kara said calmly. It seemed like Owen was more freaked out then she was.

It was silent again. "How are you going to prove that?"

Kara shook her head. "I don't know."

She made eye contact with Toby and he started to tap at his watch, meaning that Kara's time was almost up.

"Look, Owen, I'm going to have to go pretty soon, but just know that I didn't kill anyone, okay. A is doing this, so while I'm in here, team with Rose, Zoe and Anna. If you find out who A is, you found the real murderer." Kara said quickly.

"Okay, okay yeah I'll do that." He stuttered.

"And also, make sure everyone gets the tracker in their necks." She added.

"Tracker, what tracker?" Owen yelled.

"It's a long story, but before Zak was murdered, he was trying to warn me about the trackers and that A was planning something big. So if they get the tracker in them, then A will probably try to snatch us all up, and if it's all of us against A, we can beat them." Kara rushed.

Toby stood up and started to walk over to Kara.

"Do you understand?" Kara rushed.

"Yeah, yeah I get it…" He said with low confidence.

"Repeat it to me!" She yelled.

"Work with Zoe, Anna and Rose and find out who A is. Once we know, make sure everyone has the trackers and then sit back and let A do their plan. Then wait for you all to defeat them."

"Good." Kara said. Toby was standing next to her now, reaching for the phone.

"I don't know if this will work." He mumbled.

"It will if you try hard enough." Kara said, leaning away from Toby while he reached for the phone.

"I don't kno-"

"I have to go, Owen. I love you." She finished while a tear ran down her face.

"I love you to, Kara." He said.

"Remember what I-" The phone was snatched from Kara's hand before she could finish.

Toby took the phone and ended the call.

She stared up at him. "You couldn't let me finish my sentence?"

"I should have stopped you a minute ago but I let you go on, so no, I couldn't let you finish your sentence."

Kara looked away from Toby and looked at the metal table. It was cold.

"So what now?" Kara asked.

"I guess we wait for Victoria to bring your phone back." He said.

"The phone that's going to have nothing on it?" Kara said in a disappointed tone.

"Exactly."

As if on cue, the door burst open and Victoria stomped in with a big smile on her face.

She shoved the phone in Kara's face and laughed. "There's nothing in here, sweetheart."

Even though she already knew that, Kara pretended to be surprised.

"What do you mean?" She said in a worried tone. "They were on there this morning."

Victoria put the phone in her pocket and chuckled. "Cut the act. We all know that you have no evidence that you're innocent."

Kara remained quiet. This was probably the best thing she could do for herself right now.

"Nothing to say now, huh?" Victoria laughed. She grabbed Kara's arm and forced her up. "Come with me." She said. Victoria looked at Toby. "What happened to the other officer in the room?"

"I took over." He answered.

Victoria looked confused. "Was he new? I don't think I've ever seen him before."

Toby lifted up his shoulders. "I have no idea."

Victoria shook her head and said, "Whatever," under her breath.

She then continued to drag Kara out of the room and down the hall.

The two were at the back of the building near a door.

"Where are we?" Kara asked.

"I'm about to ship you off to the jail." Kara said, opening the door that lead outside.

Kara tried her best to stay put when Victoria pushed her forwards.

"Wait!" She yelled. "Don't I get a court case or something?" Kara knew that she would have nothing to say to the judge, but Kara did have the right.

"Yes, you do." Victoria grunted as she shoved Kara forwards. "And until we figure out a day, you get to have a sleepover with the other inmates in the jail."

"No…no…no…no…" Kara began to say. "I can't go to jail; you can't keep me somewhere else?"

"You're a murderer. Thinking that you aren't going to jail is just idiotic."

The two were now in front of a big truck. With one hand, Victoria opened the back of the truck and revealed a bench covered in chains.

"Hop in." Victoria said in a cheery voice. She was really enjoying this.

Kara followed her orders. She sat down on the bench as Victoria reached down and chained her in.

"If you're difficult in any way…" She said as she started to pat her club. "I will use this."

Kara gulped and nodded.

Victoria nodded and closed the back of the truck.

It was dark. Kara couldn't see much in front of her.

She was scared. She was alone but it didn't feel like it.

She shivered as she released a big breath. She lurched sideways as the truck started moving.

Kara stared right in front of her. She felt another person in the room. She could feel it.

"Hello?" She whispered.

Then out of nowhere, a hand shot out of the darkness and covered Kara's mouth.

She started to scream, but the screames were muffled out by the person's big glove.

"Shh!" The person whispered. "Calm down, Kara!" They grunted.

It was a man's voice.

She didn't stop though. She only screamed more.

"Kara, shut up! I am trying to help you!" They whisper-screamed.

Kara calmed down a little bit, but she was prepared to scream if she had to.

"I know you're scared and you're probably freaked out by me." He said. "I'm the police officer in the interrogation room who said they believed you. I still do, and I'm going to help you get out." He said.

Kara didn't do anything. She wasn't sure if she trusted this guy. Why didn't he ever tell her his name, or why didn't he say something before he jumped out and covered Kara's mouth.

"I'm going to count to three, and when I reach three, I'm going to uncover your mouth. If you scream I'm going to cover it again and I'll repeat this process until we arrive at the prison, and when we get there, it'll be too late."

Kara did nothing. She didn't move a muscle in response.

"Do you understand?"

Kara hesitated before she nodded her head.

"1..."

Kara did nothing.

"…2…" The man started to loosen his hand.

"…3." And then his hand was off.

Kara took a deep breath and whispered. "Who are you?"

"That's not important right now. The only thing that you need to know about me is that I'm an ally."

Kara nodded. "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm going to help you."

"Well, I can't leave. Victoria will know and then there will be a huge search team for me and I'll be in even more trouble then I already am."

"I'm not going to help you escape." He said in his scruffy voice. It sounded awfully familiar.

"Then what are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to give you your evidence."

Kara hesitated for a second. "You have evidence?"

"Yes."

"Will it work?"

"I can guarantee you'll be released as soon as they see it." He said. There was a chuckle in his voice.

Kara was confused. "What it is?"

"It's too much to explain, but when you see it, try your best to go along with it, okay? It's going to be a lot so try your best."

Kara nodded even though she knew the man couldn't see her. "Yeah, okay."

She then heard movement. She heard footsteps walk towards the door.

"If my math is correct, you'll be arriving at the jail in just under ten minutes. When you get there, don't resist and don't speak. At six o' clock, you'll be allowed visitors. At six thirteen you'll have one. Talk to them and get as much info as you can. Then you'll have your evidence and you can get out and defeat A."

Then there was a weird metal creek, and then light.

Kara saw the man now. He was smiling. "I know you can do it."

"I would be able to find A a lot easier if you told me who they were." Kara said. It almost sounded like she was begging.

"If I did that I would ruin the surprise!" He said.

"But I have no idea where to start on finding out who they are." Kara said. Her voice was low and depressing.

"Just know that A is a lot closer than you think they are." He then winked at Kara and jumped out.

Her mouth hung open. Did he just jump out of a moving car? She wanted to yell for him but she knew that Victoria would hear.

All of a sudden, the man's head popped up as he stood in front of the entrance.

"Looks like my math was wrong." He said looking around. "It was more like five minutes. We're here."

Kara was speechless. She just looked at the man with a questionable look.

"If your visitor is being rough and won't give you the evidence, just tell him that Mr. Brighton wants vengeance. Then he should listen."

Kara nodded. She knew that name from somewhere. "Okay, but what if the evidenc-"

She was cut off by the sound of a gate opening.

"I've got to go." The man, Mr. Brighton, said. "Looks like they're about to come get you."

Kara all of a sudden got scared again. What if this "evidence" didn't work?

Mr. Brighton started to close the truck doors. Before he closed them, he gave Kara one last glare and said, "Good luck."

She didn't get to respond before the doors slammed closed.

She had the feeling of her being alone in the dark again, except this time she was actually alone.

She felt the truck move forwards and quickly stop again. Then the engine turned off, and the back doors started to open, letting in little light for Kara.

When the doors were fully open, it took Kara a few seconds to get used to the light.

Once she could see, she felt herself stick up straight in fear.

There were tons of police officers, like when they all showed up at Kara's house that morning, and they all had their guns pointed at Kara.

She tried to put her hands up but she forgot that she was chained down to the bench.

Victoria put her gun down and walked over to Kara. She unlocked the chains but kept the handcuffs on.

"Don't do anything stupid." She said as she grabbed Kara and shoved her out of the truck.

She looked around at all the other police officers. They looked scared.

They were scared of Kara. Did they really all believe that someone as little and frail as Kara could have murdered someone?

Kara felt Victoria's hand on her back as she guided her towards the prison.

It was big, and dark. As she walked through the front door, she couldn't help but notice all the prisoners in the court yard. A majority of them were middle aged, angry looking men.

They stared at Kara as if she was a piece of meat.

"Are the males and females separated?" Kara asked as she was shoved through the front doors.

"Nope." Victoria said with a cheery tone.

Kara rolled her eyes at Victoria's excitement. Why was she acting like this? She knew Kara; she should be trying to help.

The two then made their way through the lobby and down a hall.

Kara looked at all the cells and the people in them. They all looked like they would kill Kara if they had the chance. They grunted and pulled at the cages.

As Kara and Victoria got to the end of the hallway, they reached a cell with only one person in it. She figured that that would be her cell, but Victoria and Kara kept moving.

They moved into a small room. Once inside, Victoria grabbed an orange prison suit and gave it to Kara.

"Change into these." She said in monotone.

Kara grabbed them and waited for Victoria to leave so she could change, but Victoria didn't move a muscle.

"You want me to change right here?" Kara asked.

Victoria nodded. "Strip!"

Kara turned away from Victoria and began to take her blouse off. Then she moved down to her shorts.

She was basically naked, except she had on her bra and underwear, but she still felt uncomfortable.

Kara was about to put on the ugly orange jumpsuit when she heard Victoria chuckle.

"Cute freckle." She said.

Kara quickly put her jumpsuit on when Victoria said that. She was referring to the freckle just under Kara's left butt cheek.

She turned around and looked at Victoria.

Victoria looked at her up and down.

"Good." She said after she studied Kara. "Now I need to ask you a few questions." She said as she grabbed a clipboard.

"Name?" She started off.

"You know my name." Kara said, crossing her arms.

"Name?" Victoria said again, except stricter.

"Kara Marie Rivers." Kara answered.

"Height?"

"Um… 5'6" She guessed.

"Weight?"

"One twenty-something." Again, she wasn't that sure.

Victoria looked up at Kara with a cold stare. "You need to be more precise.

"Can't you just weigh me?" Kara asked.

"We're already behind schedule, so no."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Okay, um.. one twenty…seven" she answered.

Victoria nodded and moved on.

"Eye color?"

"Hazel."

"Any previous arrest records?"

Kara almost laughed, but she didn't. "No." She answered as calmly as she could.

"Parents names?"

"Hanna and Caleb Rivers." She answered sadly. She missed them and wanted to see them. Hopefully they would visit her.

"What was your mother's surname?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"What was your mother's surname?" She said again.

Kara's fists balled up as she answered, "Marin."

"Alright." Victoria said as she set the clipboard and application aside.

"Let's meet your cellmate." She said with a smile.

As the two walked out, Kara looked at the clock on the wall.

It was Five fifty six.

She would be getting a visitor soon if they would even allow it.

They walked down the same hallway they did when they first entered, and they stopped at the cell with the one person in it.

"Kara, meet your new cell mate, Debbie." Victoria said, opening up the cell.

"Debbie, meet Kara." Victoria added as she shoved Kara in.

She slammed the cell behind Kara and locked it.

"Give me your hands." Victoria demanded.

She stuck her cuffed hands through the bars and allowed Victoria to unlock them.

When they were off, Kara began to rub her wrists. They were red from how tight the handcuffs were.

Victoria looked at Debbie. "Try not to kill her, will you?"

Debbie huffed. "No promises."

Kara gulped. Great.

"I'll come back later to take you two outside." Victoria said. As she walked away she added. "Until, then, I don't want to have to see your faces so try not to get into any trouble." And then she was gone.

Kara looked out into the hallway. She hadn't even been in the cell for a full minute and she was already freaking out.

She shook the bars but it was useless. There was no getting out.

Kara turned around and saw that Debbie was staring at her.

Debbie had short red hair up in a ponytail and she was covered in freckles. She was tall, and a little bit on the bigger side. Her brown eyes were dull but looked more warm then threatening but then again, she was in jail, so her loving presence that Kara was receiving was probably an act.

"Hi." Kara said when she saw Debbie staring at her.

"You're a small one." Debbie said, ignoring Kara's hello.

Kara took a deep breath and sat down on the bed opposite from the one Debbie was sitting on.

"What are you in here for?" Debbie asked.

"They think I murdered someone." Kara answered as she leaned up against the wall.

"Think?" Debbie questioned.

"Yeah, they think that just because I was at the crime scene, I was the one who murdered him."

Debbie laughed. "How old was this guy that you 'killed'"

"Twenty one, I think."

"And how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Debbie cackled a loud laugh. "They think a puny seventeen year old girl killed a grown twenty one year old man?"

Kara nodded.

Debbie laughed some more. She wiped a tear from her eyes.

She then looked at Kara deep in the eyes. She stared for a long time.

"What?" Kara asked.

Debbie continued to stare. "Don't worry, kid. I know you didn't kill that guy."

Kara tilted her head. "How? We just met, why do you trust me?"

"Because a person changes when they kill someone. It's like a part of their soul is taken from them. The little glint in your eye will dim, or your smile won't be as big. And you, kid, I can still see the glint."

Kara blinked. "Thanks." She then began to pick at her nails. "What did you do to get in here?"

"I killed my husband." She said straight-out.

Kara felt herself stop breathing for a second. "You what?" She said.

"He wasn't a very faithful man. He would go out to bars, hook up with a couple women, then come home drunk and beat me. One day I had enough, so I left the gas stove on and said I was going out. Two hours later I received the news that my house had caught on fire and my husband had died."

Kara was speechless. She had no idea what to say.

"And you know what?" Debbie said. She could tell that Kara was a little disturbed.

"I regret it." Debbie said. She sounded sad. "Because I lost the glint, and every time I get happy, or smile, I tell myself, 'Debbie, remember how you killed Hank? You took another human beings life away and you're sitting here laughing? You should be ashamed!' and I hate the feeling of having the weight on my chest."

Kara looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Debbie shook her head. "Don't apologize, kid. You weren't the one who caused the fire."

It was silent between the two.

"What did you say your name was again?" Debbie asked after the few minutes of silence.

"Kara." She answered.

"You know what, Kara. Even though you didn't commit any crimes, I'm glad you showed up here. I kinda like you."

Kara smiled. "I kinda like you to."

Debbie cackle laughed.

Then there was a loud bang on the cell.

"Wow!" Victoria said as she unlocked the cage. "You got Debbie to laugh."

Victoria took a long chain and handcuffed both Kara and Debbie to the chain, along with a few other inmates.

Then the crowd of prisoners and police officers made their way outside to the courtyard.

They released the prisoners one by one, and Kara was the last to be released.

"Don't get into any fights." Victoria said as she unlocked her chain. "You'll get squashed."

"I'll try my best." Kara said snootily.

Victoria scoffed as she released Kara.

She took a few steps forwards as she entered the crowd of inmates.

Some stared at her as if they were about to pick her up and throw her around as if she was a football. Others just pointed at laughed.

Kara looked around and tried to find Debbie, but she was nowhere to be found.

Kara really hated being out here.

She turned around and looked for a clock. She saw one near the exit to the courtyard. Kara squinted as she read the clock as six twenty three P.M.

Wasn't her visitor supposed to be here by now?

Mr. Brighton said that she would have a visitor at six thirteen, so where was her visitor?

Kara turned away from the clock and walked over to the fence.

She put her hand on the fence and looked out. The prison seemed like it was in the middle of the woods, because all she saw where some trees and a single road leading into them.

She looked up at the fence.

It was at least ten feet tall, and it was topped off with barbed wire.

Yup, there was no way that Kara could escape.

"Look at this one, boys." Kara heard a gruffly voice say behind her.

She turned around and saw a group of middle aged men surrounding her.

"We got a little one." One said with a smirk on their face.

Kara felt her heart start to race.

The one in the middle took a few steps forwards and was only a few feet away from Kara.

"I heard you got in here for murder." He said as he inched closer.

Kara took a few steps back but was quickly blocked by the fence. She looked around her and saw the group of prisoners had formed a circle around her. She was surrounded.

The inmate was now right in front of Kara. He leaned down and put his mouth next to Kara's ear.

She felt his hot breath on her neck as he whispered, "You're too pretty to be going around killing people."

Kara grunted and tried her best to push him away, but her attempt to do that was pointless. He didn't move an inch.

He looked down at her and laughed. "Did you just try to push me?"

Kara said nothing, she only swallowed hard.

"She tried to push me!" He said to the group of inmates. They all laughed in response.

The man looked back at Kara with a perve-like grin. "Do it again." He demanded.

Kara took a deep breath and said, "Back off." In her bravest tone possible.

The man laughed again. "What did you say?"

"I said to back off before I shoot you dead too." She said in a threatening tone.

The man had a slightly confused look on his face, but he didn't move.

Before either one of them could speak another word, someone broke through the crowd.

"Leave her alone, Blake." It was Debbie.

"Oh, come on Debbie I was just having a little fun." He said with a smirk.

"The same kind of fun you had with that girl? Was it fun when she called the cops and they bust down your door and drug you here?" Debbie said in a bitchy tone.

The man gave Debbie a threatening glare, but he backed off.

"Let's go." He said to the group.

Without a word, they all left.

"You shouldn't have threatened them like that." Debbie said after everyone was out of earshot.

"Why not?"

"Because you saying that basically confirmed that you killed that other guy, and if you want anyone to believe you, you need to talk it as little as possible."

Kara looked down. "Okay."

"And try to stay away from Blake and his gang." Debbie said. Kara could feel her eyes on her.

"Why? What are they in here for?" Kara asked, looking up.

"They're all a gang of rapists." Debbie said. She then spit on the ground.

Kara looked up at the group. She thought of Zoe, and then she thought of Daniel.

"Debbie, do you know if there is a Daniel Coogan in here?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, there was a Daniel. He was in Blake's gang." She said, she then laughed and shook her head, "that bastard."

"Was?" Kara questioned. "Where is he now?"

"He got transferred out of the state. Don't really know why. One day he was here and then the next he was gone."

"Oh." Was all Kara could say. Hopefully she wouldn't get transferred anywhere.

"Why do you want to know, kid?" Debbie questioned.

"The girl he raped was my best friend." Kara said, taking a few steps forwards.

"I'm sorry about that, Kara. Is your friend okay?"

"She was disturbed about it at first. She did stuff to herself like…" Kara caught herself. She knew that Zoe wouldn't want Kara telling people about her dark days.

"…She got better. She's almost back to normal." Kara finished.

Kara felt her lip begin to quiver. Thinking about Zoe was making Kara extremely sad and depressed. She wished she could talk to her friends again. She would do anything.

"Good for your friend." Debbie said, giving Kara a hard pat on the back.

Kara was silent. She was afraid that if she said anything, tears would start to fall down her face.

Debbie noticed. "You'll see her soon, Kara. Don't worry."

Kara nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Debbie."

Kara looked up just in time to see all the police officers run inside the building in a hurried manner.

"Huh…" Debbie began. "They've never left us all alone like this before."

"What do you think is going on?" Kara asked, walking over to where the crowds of inmates were gathering.

"I don't know."

Then sirens started to wail. Kara and almost everyone else covered their ears in response.

"Debbie, what's going on?" Kara yelled over the sirens.

"What?" She yelled back.

"Forget it!" Kara called. There was no way to have a conversation in this noise.

Kara stood on her tiptoes to look over the crowd, but she was too short to see anything.

"Dang it." She said to herself.

Then Kara felt something hard hit her shoulder. She turned around and saw nothing. There was nothing behind her but the fence and the woods.

She turned back to the crowd but she quickly felt another pinch on her shoulder.

She turned around angrily and this time, she saw something. Kara could have sworn that she saw movement in the woods.

Then she saw a pebble fly at her. She quickly moved out of the way of the pebble and started to move towards where it came from.

She saw the movement again. She ran to the fence and put her face up to it.

"Who's there?!" She yelled.

No response. It was pointless yelling, it was impossible to hear.

After a few seconds of Kara standing there, she saw someone walk out of the woods.

They had on a hood, so Kara couldn't see their face, but she stood her ground.

The person walked up to the fence and stood right in front of Kara.

"Who are you?!" She yelled.

They figure put a finger to their mouth to shush Kara. They then lifted up their hands and pulled of their hood.

Good thing the sirens were wailing, because Kara screamed at the top of her lungs.

It was Zak.

"Zak!" She yelled. "You're supposed to be dead!"

He smiled and put a finger to his mouth again. He then lifted up his fingers and counted down from three.

At three, the sirens silenced down. They were still sounding, but it was a lot quieter.

"Hi." He said.

Kara wanted to reach through the fence and punch him, but the holes weren't big enough.

"How are you alive?" She whisper-yelled.

"I never died." He said with smirk.

"Yes, you did! I saw you… oh what is going on?" Kara said as she put her head in her hands.

"It's too much to explain, but I'll tell you the whole story once you're out of here." He said.

Kara nodded. "Okay. Um, so you have the evidence?" She said. She remembered how Mr. Brighton said how the visitor would bring evidence.

"Evidence?" He questioned. "Who said anything about evidence?"

"That man!" Kara said. "He said I would have a visitor and they would give me evidence."

Zak shook his head. "Nope. No evidence. But I am going to get you out."

"No, you can't do that!" Kara yelled. "If I escape the police will look for me and then they will have an actual reason so arrest me!"

"It's the only way you can get out, Kara."

"No, no, you have to give me evidence!"

"Kara, there is no time. Those sirens will only go off for a few more minutes and I have to get you out before they stop."

Kara started to take deep, short breaths. "Zak, no. _You_ have to be my evidence. If you come out and say you're alive, then they can't arrest me."

"Kara, I can't do that. If I say I'm alive, A will come after me, and that can't happen. I have the advantage when A thinks I'm dead. They aren't be focused on me so it's easier for me to sneak in and out of A's lair. It's easier for me to get to you too. Heck, I got Zoe in A's lair or god's sake. I faked my own death to do this and I have come too far to give up. A _can't_ know I'm alive."

"And I can't be in jail." Kara said.

Zak shook his head. "And you won't be." He then pulled out a pair of bolt cutters.

"You put those away right now, Zak!" Kara yelled, pushing the cutters away from the holes.

"Kara, stop being difficult!" He yelled at her.

"You stop being difficult!"

They gave each other strong glares. They were arguing as if they were an old married couple and it was ridiculous. But then Kara got a thought.

"Rose." She murmured.

"What?" He asked.

"Does Rose know you're alive?" Kara asked.

"Of course not! If she knew it would ruin the whole plan." He said, attempting to use the bolt cutters again.

Kara swatted them away again. "She is heartbroken! You have to see her!"

"Don't worry, Kara. I've already left her a sign."

"A sign?"

"I left the hoodie I gave her and the rose necklace I made her in her closet for her to find. Once she sees them, she'll know I'm with her."

"Maybe as a ghost." Kara murmured.

"I will talk to her after we find out who A is, okay."

Then another person burst from the woods.

"Do you have her yet?" They asked.

It was another boy who looked very similar to Zak. They looked almost identical.

Kara stared at him up and down.

"Not yet, Nick."

"Who the hell are you?" Kara yelled at him.

"Wow, she's feisty." Nick said, grinning.

"Kara, this is my twin brother, Nick. He helped me fake my death."

Kara shook her head. "Okay, whatever, once I'm out I'll yell at the both of you. But for now, you need to come out and say you are alive." Kara said to Zak.

"No can do." Zak said, snipping off a part of the gate.

That was when she remembered what Mr. Brighton had said. That if the visitor was being difficult she had to say…

"Mr. Brighton wants vengeance." She said, repeating what the man said.

Both Zak and Nick's faces went dull.

"What?" Zak asked, looking up at Kara.

"Mr. Brighton wants vengeance." She repeated. Then Kara remembered where she had heard the name before. When she was arrested, the police had said Kara had murdered Zak _Brighton._

"You're father told me that you would come as evidence. He said when you would come, and you were late by the way, and he said you would help me and that he wants vengeance."

Zak turned to Nick. "He must think you're dead."

"He must." Nick said. "Well, we have to talk to him, tell him we're okay."

"If we do that, he's going to blow our cover." Zak reminded Nick.

"Zak, its dad." Nick said with disappointment in his voice.

It was silent.

Dead silent.

Kara turned around and saw that the sirens stopped flashing, and the police officers were filing out again.

"You guys have to go!" Kara yelled, still facing the prison.

"Zak, come on." Nick yelled.

Kara turned back to them and saw Nick tugging on Zak. "We've got to go." He said.

"My dad came to you?" Zak asked.

She nodded her head. "He said you would help me."

Zak's face showed no emotion.

"You have to go." Kara reminded him. "The police will see you."

Zak nodded. "Okay."

"And remember what I said." Kara said strictly. "You need to come out and say you're alive."

"Who are you talking to, kid?" It was Debbie's voice.

Kara turned around and saw her walking towards Kara and the gate.

She turned back around quickly. "You need to-" but they were both already gone.

Debbie was now next to Kara.

"Did you hear me?" She asked.

"Yeah, I heard." Kara answered, looking out into the woods.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Myself."

Debbie laughed. "That's not weird." She then hit Kara's shoulder. "C'mon. They want us inside."

Kara and Debbie then made their way back to the entrance to the jail and Kara didn't even fight when Victoria cuffed her.

She was silent the entire way to her cell and said nothing when Victoria locked the cell door.

"You okay, kid?" Debbie asked as she sat down on her bed.

"I'm fine." She replied.

She then lied down on her very uncomfortable bed and closed her eyes.

In the distance, Kara could here that a T.V was on.

"…killer is now behind bars. Still no date on when Kara Rivers' court date is, but I think we will all sleep a little better tonight knowing that we are all safe…"

Kara grunted as she grabbed her pillow and put it over her ears.

And she very uncomfortably found sleep.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so another informative chapter.**

 **AND ZAK ISN'T DEAD!**

 **I know it's a little confusing, but I'll get into more detail in another chapter.**

 **Also, next week's chapter may be a little short, because I'm leaving for vacation next Thursday. And the week I'm gone I won't post a chapter because there is no wifi where I am going :(**

 **But I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review!**

 **-Jessica**


	42. PlAn

**AN: Alright, so as you know by now, this chapter is going to have three perspectives to balance out the one.**

 **And I got a lot of good reviews on the last chapter so I want to thank everyone who reviewed.**

 **Lilly22498 favorited so I want to thank you for that!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Zoe turned the T.V off for the millionth time today.

It seemed like something about Kara's arrest was on every channel.

Zoe got up from her seat and started to head back up to her room when Emily yelled from across the room,

"Where are you going?"

This was another thing Zoe has been hearing all day.

Ever since Zoe was taken and put in A's lair, her parents have been the strictest they've ever been.

Of course, they had no idea about the tracker in Zoe's neck, but they knew how A had taken her and dropped her off in their lair. She left out that Daniel was there too.

She didn't tell them about what she found in there though. If she did, she would have to explain the dots, and that would mean telling them about the trackers.

In Emily and Alison's mind, Zoe was walking home from therapy and was snatched up from A. Once she woke up, she quickly got out before A could get back.

That's all they knew. And that's all Zoe wanted them to know.

Zoe turned over to Emily, who was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"I'm going to my room." Zoe answered.

Emily nodded. "Okay, be safe."

"It's my room." Zoe said flatly. "I'll be fine."

Emily said nothing as Zoe turned back around and headed to her room.

Her room was still downstairs.

Another thing Zoe didn't tell her parents about was the therapy visit.

She didn't tell them about how Amanda accused Zoe of using steroids or whatever, because Zoe's parents would probably believe Amanda over her.

But Emily and Alison weren't so strict about Zoe being in the chair. They were fine with her using her brace and they didn't scold her about it that much.

As Zoe sat down on her bed, she started to think about that text she received after Amanda accused her.

It was just a winky face.

;)

What's that supposed to mean? And who sent it?

That was a dumb question, it was obviously A. But they didn't sign it, and there was nothing for Zoe to go off of.

But why a winky face?

She had gotten it right after Zoe had stormed out of the therapy office because Amanda accused her of being on drugs.

Then there was the winkey face.

Zoe thought hard about it. Did A somehow sneak steroids into Zoe?

If they did, they would have had to sneak into something that Zoe uses often. Something she's used ever since she got in the wheelchair.

She looked around the room and her eyes stopped on her normal medicine she had to take twice a day.

They weren't anything special, just pills to help with the pain, but what if…?

Zoe picked up the bottle and inspected it. It didn't seem like anything special. There was this long, medical name for whatever the pill was called on the bottle.

Because she was curious, Zoe picked up her phone and typed the name into google. She clicked images and looked at what the pills looked like.

Zoe opened the cap to her pill bottle and looked at the pills.

They didn't look at all like the pictures on the internet.

Zoe took a deep breath and looked up "steroids."

Her heart pounded as she compared the images on google to the pills in her bottle.

They were the same.

Zoe grunted as she chucked the bottle across the room.

That bastard was sneaking her steroids.

Zoe winced as she felt a tear go down her face.

So she wasn't special. She wasn't a miracle. She was a jacked up steroid freak.

She ran her hands through her long blond hair as she tried to calm herself down. It wasn't working. She couldn't stop shaking and crying.

Zoe took a deep breath as she got up and retrieved the bottle from across the room.

She picked the bottle up with shaky hands and stared at it.

She looked away as she walked over to the bathroom. When she got in there, she locked the door and opened up the bottle.

She tipped it upside down and watched at the pills fell into the toilet.

There weren't that much in there, but it made Zoe feel better knowing that there was no way that she could have these steroids again.

Once the bottle was empty, Zoe flushed the toilet with great pleasure.

They were gone.

"They're gone, Zoe, calm down." She said to herself in the mirror. But she wouldn't stop shaking.

She took a deep breath as she went back to her room and sat down.

She paced her breathing in hopes that it would help, but it didn't. All she did was shake and sweat and cry.

"Calm down!" She yelled, but she knew it wouldn't help.

Then she heard a knock on her door.

"Zoe, are you all right?" It was Alison.

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine." Zoe answered. It sounded very unconvincing because her voice was shaking too.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine!" She yelled a little too loudly.

It was silent on the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." Zoe said as calmly as she could.

"It's fine." Alison said after a while. "Just come talk to me if you need anything."

"Okay." She answered. She then heard footsteps lead away from her door.

Zoe took a shaky breath as more tears rolled down her face.

She put her head in her hands as she tried to calm down but, as usual, it didn't work.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz

She jumped when her phone started to ring.

She calmed herself down enough to see who it was.

It was Anna calling.

Zoe answered it and with an unsteady voice, she answered, "Hello?"

"Zoe, hey, it's me." Anna answered. "I think I might know how to get Kara out."

Zoe sat up straight. "You do? What is it?"

"It's too complicated to explain over the phone. Do you think you could come over? I've already invited Rose."

Zoe looked at her door, knowing that her parents were on the other side. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? With this plan we could have Kara out tonight! But you're a part of it so you need to get over here!"

"I want to come, Anna, but I'm kind of on house arrest right now." Zoe said quickly.

Anna grunted on the other end of the phone. "Okay, um…"

Zoe waited for Anna to say something.

"Do you think we would be able to come over there?" She eventually said.

Zoe knew the answer was no, but this sounded serious. "Yeah, sure."

Anna squealed. "Alright, Rose and I will be over in a few minutes."

"Okay, see you then."

"Bye."

Zoe hung up the phone and put it down.

She looked at it.

Besides the phone call, Zoe's phone has been pretty quiet recently.

She was surprised that she hasn't gotten a text about the steroids, or about Kara or anything.

Was A busy or something?

Zoe wasn't sure, but she knew one thing. She didn't like it.

A not texting made Zoe nervous. It was like they were planning something.

They were planning something bad.

* * *

 _Knock…knock…knock…_

Anna pounded on the door. It took a while for anyone to respond.

Emily opened the door and looked at Anna and Rose with questioning looks.

"Hi, Mrs. DiLafields." Rose said from behind Anna.

"Hi." She said, still looking confused. "I didn't know you two were coming over."

"Zoe invited us." Anna said. "She's having a hard time about Kara and she knew that she shouldn't leave the house so we told her we would come over here."

Emily nodded. "She's having a hard time?"

"We all are, but she just really needed us." Rose added into the lie.

Emily stepped aside. "She's in her room."

Anna and Rose walked in. "Thanks." Anna said to Mrs. DiLafields.

She nodded her head but didn't say anything.

Anna and Rose rushed to Zoe's room and pounded on her door.

There wasn't a response.

Anna turned to Rose and they gave each other worried looks.

Rose knocked this time a little harder. "Zoe?" She asked through the door.

"I'm coming." The two heard Zoe say from the other side. There were some other sounds like grunting and deep breaths.

"What is she doing?" Anna asked to herself.

She watched as the doorknob started to shake, but not open.

"Come on!" Zoe yelled on the other side.

"Is she struggling to open the door?" Rose asked.

Anna lifted her shoulders up in response.

When the door finally opened, Anna looked at Zoe and almost gasped.

She looked terrible. She had tear streaks running down her face, she was shaking, sweating, and her eyes were red.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Anna asked, walking into Zoe's room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Zoe said as if nothing was wrong. "Why?"

"Because you look like you've fallen down Mt. Everest..." Rose said as she sat down on the bed. "…twice."

Zoe gave Rose a mad glare. "Thanks."

Anna turned back to Zoe.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Anna asked.

"Yes, Anna, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all." Zoe answered. She then sat on the bed next to Rose.

Anna knew there was something else, but she wouldn't push it yet. They had to get Kara out of jail first.

"Okay, so about Kara." Anna began. "We all know she's innocent."

"Yeah, but it's not like we can get her out by saying that." Rose said.

Anna stood in front of her and stuck her finger out. "You didn't let me finish."

Rose was silent as she looked up at Anna.

She paced as she said. "I know it sounds crazy, but I saw Zak and he can-"

"- You what?" Zoe interrupted.

Anna turned to Zoe. She was clueless on everything that went down at the police station.

"Remember when we were in A's lair?" Anna reminded Zoe.

"Yeah."

"When Brendon and I left, we saw someone. At first I wasn't sure but then Brendon said he saw him to. We saw Zak."

Zoe had a look of confusion and horror on her face. She turned to Rose. "You believe this?"

"I have to." Rose said with little confidence.

Zoe stood up. "So you're saying you saw Zak alive. Which means that Kara was lying about seeing Zak die. And we're trying to get Kara out because she didn't murder Zak. So if he didn't die, then what did Kara do with Zak and why did she lie?"

Everyone was silent.

"I didn't think about that." Anna said.

"So Kara is lying about something." Rose said as she stared into space. "What was she doing with Zak?"

"I don't know." Zoe answered. "But what if it was something bad. Something so bad that she didn't want anyone to know so she… killed him. But it didn't work out and he survived."

"Zoe, stop." Anna said, glaring at Zoe. "Kara wouldn't do that."

Anna said it, but she wasn't sure if she believed it. She knew that Kara wasn't a killer, but what if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to. What if she threatened Zak or something and A finished out Kara's threat.

Anna shook her head and got the thought out. It was impossible.

"Please, just let me in!" A muffle voice said.

All three of the girls looked over at the door.

"Did you guys hear that?" Anna asked.

"Yeah." Rose answered.

"Me too." Zoe responded.

Anna opened up the door a little bit just in time to hear some of the conversation.

"I have to be let in. I need to talk to them!"

"I'm sorry but you can't. They're all going through a tough time and-"

"-You think I'm not!"

Silence.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't heave yelled at you."

Anna recognized the second voice as Emily but she couldn't quite make out the first. It was definitely a male voice though.

"Who is that?" She asked.

"I don't know." Zoe replied.

She went back to listening.

"I have information they need to hear." The unknown voice said.

"Like what? I can tell them." Emily said.

Anna closed the door and looked at the other two. "Information?"

"What do you think he wants to tell us?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know." Rose and Anna said at the same time.

"I'm finding out." Zoe said as she pushed through Anna and Rose and opened the door.

Anna looked at Rose with a confused face and nodded towards Zoe, signaling that they should follow.

The two did and when they turned the corner, Anna was surprised to see Owen.

"Owen?" All three of the girls said at the same time.

Owen had a relieved look on his face as he looked over Emily's shoulder.

"You don't know how relieved I am to see you." He said with a smile.

* * *

"Owen, what are you doing here?" Rose asked. Him showing up was completely unexpected.

"I have news for you and…" He grunted as he tried to get past Emily, but she wouldn't let him through.

"Mom, let him in." Zoe said, but Emily didn't move.

"I'm sorry, Zoe, but he can't come in." Emily said.

Rose watched as Zoe rolled her eyes, "Mom, this is ridicu-"

"-It's okay." Rose interrupted. She didn't want Zoe to get in any more trouble than she already was.

Rose turned to the others. "I'll go talk to him and see what he knows."

Anna and Zoe nodded their heads.

Rose then went to the door and Emily stepped aside for her.

She stopped when she was in front of Owen on the front porch. "Follow me." She said.

Rose then got off the porch and began to walk down the driveway. She stopped in front of her car and waited for Owen to catch up.

"How important is this thing you want to tell us?" She asked.

"Very." He answered.

"Is it something that A we want A to hear?"

He shook his head. "No."

Rose opened her car door. "Okay. Get in."

She got in the driver's seat while Owen got in the passenger's seat.

"So what I want to say is-"

Rose put her hand out to shush Owen. "Don't say anything yet. Who knows where A is hiding."

"I'm sure they're not in your car, Rose."

"Maybe not A, but a tape recorder possibly."

Owen was silent for a few seconds.

Rose made the sharp turn out of Rosewood and headed for the woods.

"Where are we going anyways?" He asked.

"Somewhere."

"Yeah, that answered my question."

Rose rolled her eyes. Owen was so sarcastic and impatient. But somehow Kara was into that so, god bless her.

"Hang onto something." Rose said.

"Wha-"

She made the sharp turn into the woods and then she stepped on the gas.

"Rose, what are you doing?!" Owen yelled!

She didn't respond. She only looked ahead at the forest floor ahead of her.

Rose knew exactly how to get to where she was trying to go. It was burned in her memory.

She slowed down a little bit as they got to an area filled with trees.

Rose looked out her window at a small tree with what looked like dried blood on its trunk.

She chuckled. That must have been the one she punched.

The hill Rose spent a week of her life on was in her sight. She slowed down and parked a few feet before it.

When she unclicked her seat belt, Owen gave her a confused look.

"What are we doing here?" He asked.

"We're talking, remember?" Rose said sarcastically. She then opened the car door got out. Owen soon followed.

She looked up at the hill and began to climb up it.

Owen was yelling something at her from down below, but she drowned him out.

When she got to the top, she looked down at Owen. Good. He was climbing.

When he reached the top, he stared at Rose.

"Out of all places to go, you chose here?" He said, slightly out of breath.

"This was where I stayed when I ran away." Rose admitted. She looked over at edge of the hill.

She had almost forgotten how beautiful the view was.

"Really?" Owen asked. He walked until he was standing next to Rose.

"Yup." She said, sitting down with her legs hanging off the side. "And then Zak came and convinced me to come home."

Owen sat down next to her, but he didn't dangle his feet. "I'm sorry about him, by the way."

"Thanks." She said. She really didn't want to talk about him. "You said you had information?"

He lifted his eyebrows up and looked at Rose. "Yeah, I do."

Rose looked down out into the distance while Owen spoke.

"So I talked to Kara earlier today and-"

"You talked to Kara? How?" Rose interrupted. She glared at him.

"She used her one phone call on me." Owen answered.

"Well what did she say?"

Owen took a deep breath and stared at the long drop below him.

"She said that A had a plan. She doesn't know what, but Zak was trying to warn her about it before he got shot. She said that the trackers have a big role on what A is planning, and she told me to make sure that everyone had the trackers in their necks."

"Why does she want that?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. Probably so A can carry out his plan."

"Well, why do we want that to happen?" Rose asked. She shook her head as she looked out to the horizon.

"She said that once A has you all, it'll be four against one and you can defeat them." Owen said. He looked at the side of Rose's face.

She was silent. "I don't know…" She trailed off.

"You have to do it." Owen said. "Kara sounded really confident about it and I think it could work."

"I know… I'm just scared. The last time A had us, we barely got away. Plus, they didn't have Zoe and we would have been screwed if she didn't show up."

"I know you can do it, Rose." Owen said sympathetically. "All of you together can't be beat."

Rose pondered it for a minute. "I'll have to bring the idea up with Zoe and Anna and see if they agree. I know Anna had an idea and I only went along with it because it was our only option, but now…" She trailed off again.

Rose looked at Owen. He seemed happy that Rose was considering Kara's plan.

"I'll try to convince them." She finished.

"Yes!" He said under his breath.

"How will we tell Kara our plan though?" Rose thought. The thought never occurred to her.

"She'll be allowed visitors soon. Once you convince them, you can go talk to her."

Rose nodded. "Okay." She then got up. "I should go tell the others the paln now."

He stood up too. "Okay.

"While I convince them, find a way we can talk to Kara privately. Speaking to her with police supervision probably isn't our best bet."

He nodded. "I'll try."

Rose smiled a small smile and the two headed back to her car.

As they drove back to Zoe's house, Rose tried to think of ways to convince Rose and Anna to go along with the plan. The first step was to make sure that everyone had the trackers.

Everyone but Anna had them, and Anna was the most stubborn of them all, so that itself will take a lot of convincing.

This plan was _crazy_ , but it could work.

Rose _hoped_ it would work.

* * *

 **AN: Let me apologize!**

 **I know that this chapter is really slacking and I'm sorry.**

 **I'm leaving for vacation in a few minutes and I had very limited time to write this, so i'm sorry.**

 **Other then that, I hope you enjoyed and i'll see you in two weeks.**

 **Bye!**

 **-Jessica**


	43. DefeAt

**AN: I'M BAAAAAACK!**

 **I missed you all!**

 **Angel1D98, Ecoseeker247, and Skyfire2222 followed and favorited while AshleyFan1999, Taylorkidddd and sistermagic favorited! Thanks!**

 **Alright, I know I got back from vacation, but I'm sad to say that I am leaving for Florida this Friday, so there will be another week without a chapter.**

 **I'm sorry, okay, I can't help it! xD**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"That plan is crazy" Zoe said after Rose finished explaining what Owen had told her.

"I know it is but I think it will work." Rose said as she put a hand on her hip.

"Yeah, but letting A take us?" Anna started. "That's the easy part, but getting out, what's the plan for that?"

Rose lifted her shoulders up and down. "I don't know okay. We don't know what A has in store for us, but I think that the four of us can do."

Zoe shook her head. "A could have thousands of weapons. How are we supposed to fight a person with a gun?" She then sat down. She felt her legs starting to shake.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know, okay."

"I'm hearing a lot of 'I don't know's' and not enough solutions." Anna said, crossing her arms.

"Look, I know it isn't the best plan, but if you have a better one, feel free to speak up." Rose said.

It was silent.

"That's what I thought." Rose said, leaning up against the wall.

Zoe put her head in her hands. She felt the sweat drip down her forehead.

"Zoe are you okay?" Anna asked.

She lifted her head up. Her vision went blurry from the sudden movement.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." Rose added. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Zoe lied. Right now wasn't the time to tell them about the steroids.

Anna stomped up to Zoe and crouched down. She stared her in the eye.

"What?" Zoe asked, trying her best not to puke.

Anna continued to stare. "Your pupils are dilated." She looked up. "And you're sweating."

Zoe stood up and walked away. "Stop"

Anna followed and cornered her. She looked down at Zoe legs. "You're shaking." She then grabbed Zoe hand. "And your hands are clammy."

Zoe slipped her hand out of Anna's and glared at her. "What are you doing?"

Rose walked to the two of them and stared at Anna. "Yeah, what _are_ you doing?"

Anna continued to stare at Zoe with a look of sadness on her face. "Has this whole thing really been this hard on you?"

Zoe shook her head. "What are you talking about?" Her legs were shaking badly again. All she wanted to do was sit down.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." Anna said as she pushed Zoe into the corner even more.

"Okay, but I don't know what you're talking about, so please explain." Rose said, grabbing Anna's arm.

"How long have you been using?" Anna asked straight out.

The room was silent now. It was so quiet that you could almost hear Zoe's heart thumping in her chest.

"Anna, that's ridiculous." Rose said. She then stared at Zoe. "Right, Zoe?"

Zoe stared at Anna. "Since the crash."

Anna threw her head back and sighed. "Zoe, you could have told us you were having a tough time. You didn't have to resort to drugs!"

"Oh my god, that long Zoe?" Rose said with a tone of sadness.

Zoe shoved past them and sat down on her bed.

"I didn't know I was taking them okay!" She said, rubbing her forehead. She stared at Anna and Rose's concerned faces. "I was prescribed pain medicine for my leg. When I took them I noticed the difference right away. The whole time I thought it was normal, but when I went to the physical therapist the other day, she said the quickness of my leg's recovery was nearly impossible. Not unless drugs were involved."

Anna and Rose remained silent. Zoe felt tears running down her face. Or maybe it was just more sweat.

"After she told me that I got a text with only a winkey face. A didn't sign it, so I didn't think anything of it but, curiosity took over and I looked up what steroids looked like and they matched the pills that were in my bottle. And I was _not_ prescribed steroids."

"What did you do after you found out?" Rose asked.

"I flushed then down the toilet. Since then, I've been shaky and sweaty."

Anna sat down next to Zoe and looked at her shaking hands. "You're going through withdrawals."

Zoe gulped. "Withdrawals?"

"It's when your body gets so used to something, so when you stop, your body craves for more."

"I know what it means… but I myself can't even dream of taking them again."

Rose sat on the bed and joined in. "Well of course not. But your body can take over at any time. You can do something that you might not want to do."

Zoe wiped her forehead again. "I know."

"This could be really hard for you, Zoe. Just know that we are here for you." Anna said as she rubbed Zoe's shoulder.

"Thanks." She said. "But I think that we should back to the plan."

"You mean the crazy death trap Rose wants to put us through." Anna muttered under her breath.

"It can work! All four of us together are unstoppable. A hasn't gotten us yet and we can defeat them." Rose said confidently.

Zoe turned to look at Rose. "I'll do it, Rose." She said. "It's absolutely crazy, but I'm in."

Rose smiled. "Thanks."

The two then looked at Anna. She stared back with a glare. "I don't know."

"Come on!" Rose began. "I know that the idea is choppy but we can fill in the blanks along the way. We just need to know if you'll even put in the effort to help." Rose pleaded.

"What would be the first step?" Anna asked.

"The first step is that you need to let A put the chip in you. Once the tracker is in all of us, A will think that they have the advantage."

Anna shook her head. "A _will_ have the advantage."

"No they won't." Rose said with a smirk.

Anna stared at Zoe with a confused face. "Do you have any idea what she's thinking in that evil head of hers?"

"Not a clue." Zoe said. She turned to Rose. "Explain."

"We need A to think that they have complete control over us, when really, they don't, so they're guard is down. That way, when we fight back, it is completely unexpected and we have a greater chance at defeating them."

Zoe nodded her head slightly. "So what are we going to do once we attack A? We can't kill him and if we tie them up, the police are just going to think that we attacked without reason. We have no proof that A exists besides the lair, but I doubt that A will stay there for very much longer. They definitely know that we know where it is by now, so they will probably relocate soon."

Rose looked at the two with a smile on her face. "We let A keep us for a while. Like a month at the least. That way, the police will know that we are missing, so when we escape, they will know that A was the kidnapper, and they will go after them and leave us alone."

Zoe looked at Anna. She had a concentrated look on her face, like she was considering it.

Anna looked up at the two and released a breath. "A could do some terrible stuff to us. When we were at the abandoned cabin, A beat the snot out of me. I think that they might have even broken a few ribs. Just imagine what A will do when we are in their domain."

"We'll be together, Anna. We won't let anything bad happen to each other." Rose said with a sympathetic voice.

"It's going to be dangerous." Anna said with fear in her voice.

"Our lives have always been dangerous." Zoe murmured. "But our parents have had to go through this once. And if they can do it, so can we."

Anna took a deep breath. "So how am I going to get the tracker in my neck?"

Zoe felt her smile perk up. Anna was in. She was going to do it.

Rose was smiling too. "You have to make a bargain." She said. "At the cabin, A was willing to offer you the bracelet if you let them put the tracker in. So, text A and say that you are willing to make the deal."

"But don't you think A will question that?" Anna asked.

"A will be too excited that he will finally be able to track every one of his toys to question your decisions." Zoe said.

Anna nodded. "Okay." She said with low confidence.

Then it was silent. It was kind of awkward.

"Right now?" Anna asked.

"Yes!" Rose and Zoe said at the same time.

Zoe looked at her.

"We need to get this done as soon as possible. Kara's court case is in a few days and once they prove her guilty, no one will take their eyes off of her." Rose added.

Anna took another deep, shaky breath as she reached for her phone. She started to type with shaky fingers.

She showed the phone to Anna and Zoe.

"Done." She said.

 **I want my bracelet back. Meet me at your lair in two hours.**

 **-Anna**

Zoe looked up at Anna and she could see the fear in her eyes.

"How much longer do you think we'll have before A takes us?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know. Hopefully a few days. That way, we'll be able to say bye to our parents and come up with a more strategic plan." Rose answered.

"Say bye to our parents?" Zoe asked with sadness in her voice.

What does she mean by saying bye?

"We're going to be gone for a few months. They deserve a discrete goodbye." Rose said in a low voice.

Zoe was silent as she nodded her head. She didn't want to say goodbye. If she did, she knew she would cry.

Zoe's parents and their confidence in her is the whole reason why she is who she is. Without their confidence boost, how is she going to last?

She turned to Anna. "Why did you choose the lair?"

"Because there is nowhere for A to hide." She replied.

"We want to be there with you just in case A tries to pull something." Rose added.

"What about the trackers?" Zoe reminded. "A will see our dots in the lair."

"Crap." Anna said under her breath. "I'll stand in front of the computer. I'm tall, I should block it."

"You better, because if A knows we are in there, we're screwed." Zoe said.

Anna pushed the hair out of her face. "I won't let A know you're in there."

Zoe started to fan herself. Sweat was piling in her boob crack.

Great.

"Maybe you should take a shower, Zoe." Rose insisted.

Zoe shook her head. "No, we need to come up with a plan."

"We have one for now, but we can't let A smell you." Anna said, smirking.

Zoe turned to her. "Ha ha." She said sarcastically. She stood up and made her way to the door.

"We love you, Zoe." Rose yelled when Zoe closed the door.

"I know!" She yelled back. She then closed the door fully.

Zoe quickly turned the corner as she ran into her mom.

Alison dropped the basket of laundry from the impact.

"Sorry, mom." Zoe said as she reached down and put the clothes that had fallen out back into the basket.

"It's fine, hon." Alison said as she put the last shirt into the basket and stood up. Zoe stood up too.

Alison looked at Zoe with raised eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Zoe put a lock of wet hair behind her ear. "Yeah, why would you ask that?" She said nervously.

"Because you're all sweaty." Alison said, putting a hand on Zoe's forehead. "And you're really hot. Are you sick?"

Zoe took a step back and shook her head. "No, it's just really hot in my room."

Alison nodded her head suspiciously. "Okay. Do you want me to turn up the air conditioning?"

"No, its fine. I'm just going to shower and I'll be good." Zoe said. At least half of that sentence wasn't a lie.

"But aren't your friends still here?" Alison said, tilting her head.

"Um, yeah. But they said that I was starting to stink."

"Oh." Alison said softly. "Then I guess you should shower."

Zoe smiled and kissed her mom on the cheek. "See you later." She then walked off quickly.

"See ya."

Zoe rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She then slid down it and sat down on the floor. She had grown extremely dizzy.

Wow. She could barely talk to her mom and she wasn't even leaving for A's lair yet.

How was she going to lie about A taking her and the others?

Zoe stood up and turned on the cold water and got inside.

She wouldn't think about it now.

She had bigger problems to face.

* * *

Anna looked up at the abandoned costume shop or, more discreetly know as, A's liar.

She had ten minutes. Ten more minutes until she has to face A and then the plan will be in motion.

After this, the girls will have little time to come up with what they will do once they are actually _in_ the lair.

Plus, they still have to find a way to communicate with Kara.

Anna sighed. She shouldn't have agreed to this. There was too much that they hadn't planned out yet.

Anna looked down at her watch.

Nine minutes.

She noticed that she was shaking. The last time that Anna and A had been face to face was when she tricked them in the cabin and knocked them out cold.

She didn't think that A would be very forgiving towards her and put the tracker in gently.

"You've got this, Anna." Rose said from behind her. "Don't worry about it."

Anna took a shaky breath as she looked at Zoe and Rose. "What if I say something wrong?"

"You won't. In fact, you don't have to say much at all. Just make sure you get the bracelet and then allow A to put the tracker in your neck, then leave. See, it's simple." Zoe said with little confidence in her voice.

"I don't think it's going to be that easy. A hates my guts." Anna said, her voice shaking a little.

Rose put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "Remember that Zoe and I will be there too, so if something happens, we'll back you up."

Anna nodded her head slightly. Them being in the room only made her more nervous. A could hurt them too.

"We should head inside now." Zoe said to Rose. "We're going to need time to find a good hiding spot."

Rose nodded. She squeezed Anna's shoulder and said, "Good luck."

Anna smiled a dull smile in response. Then the two went inside.

Hopefully A wasn't already in there.

She looked down at her watch again. Six minutes.

"Hey, Anna."

She jumped and turned around.

Dylan.

Why did he have to be here?

"Hi." She said. Her voice was obviously shaky.

He noticed. "Are you okay?" He asked.

She looked down at the grass below her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, now I now you're lying."

She rolled her eyes and looked back up to him. She had forgotten how Dylan had told her how he caught on to how she looked away when she was lying.

"You caught me." She said. Tears formed in her eyes. She missed him.

Dylan's blue, concerned eyes stared into Anna's scared, green ones.

He reached a hand out to comfort her, but he quickly pulled it back.

At this point she didn't care. She leaned into Dylan and she wrapped her arms around him. She quickly sobbed into his chest.

He seemed shocked at first, but he allowed Anna's hug and he wrapped his own arms around her.

She continued to cry while Dylan comforted her by rubbing her back.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

"Everything." She mumbled into his chest. "Everything's wrong"

"Start from the beginning." He said. "Tell me everything."

Anna broke from the hug and she wiped her eyes.

"Well, first off, A is still here threatening us and it's really hard dealing with it when you don't have anyone there to have your back." She started.

He stayed quiet as he listened.

"And then A killed Zak, but somehow, Victoria thinks Kara did it so she's in jail and could possibly never come back and…" She trailed off as another sob rose in her throat.

"…and Rose had this ridiculous plan on letting A take us. If A takes us, we can team up on them and defeat them but… it won't work. It won't, it _can't_." A waterfall was now running down her cheeks.

Dylan put his hands on Anna's shoulder and looked at her with a concerned look.

"Then don't do it."

"I already agreed. It was the only plan we could come up with, and right away, they put me in the spotlight." She said. She wiped her cheeks and tried to calm herself down a little bit, but it wouldn't work. She continued to cry.

"How?"

"Well, in…" She looked at her watch. "…three minutes I have to go inside A's lair and go face to face with them. I'm trading myself for the bracelet you gave me."

Dylan shook his head. "You are _not_ doing that! The bracelet isn't worth it!" He said, almost yelling.

"I have to, Dylan! You don't know the whole story." She gasped out.

She was starting to lose a lot of breath. She found herself gasping for breath. She stared to reach in her back pocket, but she didn't bring her inhaler. She had been getting better at controlling her asthma; she didn't think she would need it now.

Dylan knew what was going on.

"Oh, god…" He mumbled. "Asthma attack?"

Anna nodded as she continued to gasp for air.

Dylan reached in the bag he had on his back and pulled something out.

Anna stared at it with confusion. Why did he have an inhaler?

He handing it to Anna. "Here!" He said. Panic was in his voice.

She shook it and sprayed it into her mouth.

She took a deep breath and waited for her heart rate to slow down. Once she was calmed down, she stared at Dylan.

"How come you have an inhaler with my prescription?" She asked.

"When we started dating I bought one and stole one of your cartridges. I always had it handy in case you needed it. I guess I forgot to take it out though." He said with embarrassment in his voice.

She stared at him with a slight smile. "Wow. I never noticed." She said.

He smiled. "I guess you were a little busy with A to ever notice."

Anna looked down at her watch when he mentioned A. She had less than a minute!

"Crap!" She whispered sharply as she looked at the building. "I have to go now." She said.

"Anna, you can't." Dylan said, but Anna wasn't having it.

"Dylan, it's too late. Zoe and Rose are already in there and I can't abandon them."

He didn't say anything. Thank god he understood.

"Thanks." She said as she started to walk into the building. She was almost there when she felt his hand on hers.

He tugged her hand towards his body and Anna fell into his arms.

Dylan grabbed Anna's face and planted a long meaningful kiss onto her lips.

Anna missed this feeling. This safe feeling Dylan gave her.

She wanted to stay, but she had about thirty seconds to get in that building.

She broke apart and stared into his eyes.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too."

She held his hand for as long as she could, but she let it drop when the distance between them was too far.

She turned, and without looking back, she ran into the building.

When she opened the doors and walked inside, it was dead silent. It was like there was no sign of life at all.

It made Anna feel cold. She felt like she was alone.

But she wasn't. Zoe and Rose were here somewhere, and more importantly, so was A.

She walked down the stairs and slowly walked down the hallway to the lair.

She walked into the large room. She saw the computer with the map on it. She looked at the map. Both Rose and Zoe's dots were in the lair.

Anna looked for Kara's dot, but she couldn't find it. Kara wasn't in Rosewood.

Did A already have her? Or what if A had already killed her? Anna's heart started to pound just at the thought.

A wouldn't kill her. They wouldn't do that to themselves. Right?

All of a sudden, Anna heard a loud thud from behind her. She turned around and felt herself start to shake when she saw the black hoodie.

She straightened herself up and made sure she blocked the map. A could _not_ know that Zoe and Rose were in the lair. It would ruin the whole plan.

"Hi." Anna said awkwardly.

A stared at her. They didn't say anything of course, but they did take small steps towards Anna.

She watched as A walked, and she froze when they were just a few feet away from her.

A kept walking, and when they were basically on top of Anna, she tried to back up, but the desk with the computer was in her way, and she bumped into it.

The computer wobbled, and it almost fell off the table, but luck was on Anna's side. It didn't fall.

Anna turned to look at the masked A, who was just inches from Anna's face. She could actually feel and hear their breath.

All she wanted to do was turn and run away, but she had to stick to the plan.

"Do you have the bracelet?" Anna asked in the strongest voice possible.

She flinched as A reached down in the pocket of their hoodie and pulled the bracelet out. They dangled it in front of Anna's face mockingly.

She reached for it, but A quickly shot their hand back and put the bracelet back in their pocket.

They made a _tisk_ sound as they waved their finger back and forth.

Anna gulped as she stared at A. "We made a deal." She said. "The bracelet for the tracker."

A extended their hand towards Anna. She pinched her eyes closed in fear, but was relieved to see A reach over her shoulder as they grabbed something from the desk.

She looked at it. It was a tiny syringe. The tracker must be in there.

They held it up and moved their finger in a circle, signaling for Anna to turn around.

"Wait." She said. "Give me the bracelet first."

A shook their head.

"Give me the bracelet first." She said more sternly.

A tilted their head in shock, but they soon nodded and reached in their pocket and retrieved the bracelet and shoved it into Anna's hand.

She released a big breath whenever she felt the familiar metal bracelet in her hands. She finally had it back. But now it was time for the hard part.

A shook the syringe, which let Anna know that she now had to turn around.

She didn't hesitate. She turned around and waited for the pinch of the needle.

She felt A's cold, gloved fingers graze her neck as they moved her hair aside. Then they put something cold on her neck, which made Anna flinch.

It must have been a peroxide of some kind. Then came the needle. It didn't really hurt that much. It only felt like a slight pinch, like when you get your ears pierced.

When that was over, Anna turned around at A again.

"Happy now?" She said sarcastically. But A wasn't paying attention to her. They were staring at something behind her.

She followed their stare to the computer. There was a third dot on the monitor now.

ATSC4

That dot was next to REAF2 ZEAD3. Rose and Zoe.

A was staring right at the monitor, which means…

"Shit." She mumbled.

She turned around in time to see A launching something at Anna. Something like a brick.

It hit Anna right in the side of her temple and she fell to the floor. As she fell she heard a scream. It sounded like Zoe.

Then she saw a blurry Zoe and Rose emerge from their hiding spots and run towards A.

"Stop!" Anna tried to yell, but it only came out as a whisper.

Anna watched as A did the same thing to Rose as they did to Anna, and she watched Rose fall to the floor.

Anna's vision started to go black, but she still saw Zoe try to run away, but A chased after her.

Zoe screamed as A grabbed her and forced her down to the ground. They applied pressure to her throat and waited for Zoe to pass out.

It all happened pretty quickly. Rose was down, then Zoe was down, and then A stood above Anna again.

They saw that her eyes were still open, so to finish the job, they brought there first down to Anna's head.

And then there was darkness.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **So as you can see, the girls plan didn't really work. Yikes.**

 **So there won't be a chapter next week, sorry, but I need my vacations. Lol.**

 **I love you all and I'll see you in two weeks.**

 **-Jessica**


	44. IsolAted

**AN: Hi!**

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I thought I should give you all something to think about while I was gone.**

 **Justreadingthat and Awesome Alison followed while BeautyInTheDarkness25 followed and favorited!**

 **Thanks!**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Get up!"

Kara shot her eyes open as she looked at the ugly, gray ceiling of the jail. She lifted her head up to see Victoria standing outside the cell.

" _Get up!_ " She yelled even louder than the first.

Kara sat up and rubbed her eyes. Last night was the first time she had gotten sleep in months.

The beds felt like she was lying on nails, but she was able to close her eyes and not be afraid of A being on top of her when she woke up.

That was the only good thing about jail. She knew that A was far away, and that Kara couldn't be touched.

But the bad thing was, Kara had no way of reaching out to her friends. She had no idea of they were okay.

Her parents hadn't come to see Kara yet either. They probably weren't allowed to, but where they trying?

They had to be, right?

"Get up now or I swear to god, I will beat you." Victoria said with pure hatred.

Kara shot up straight. Did she really just say that?

"Can you even do that?" Debbie said from her bed.

"You would be surprised with what I can do." Victoria said with smite.

Kara cleared her throat and stood up. She walked over to Victoria but stayed out of her reach.

"What?" Kara asked in the calmest voice possible.

"You have visitors." She said in monotone.

Kara felt herself smile. "Really?"

Victoria didn't say anything. She only unlocked the cell door and handcuffed Kara.

"Don't try anything." She said as she directed Kara away from her cell.

This time, Kara was silent. She didn't want to say anything out of place. If she did, she was scared that Victoria wouldn't let her see her visitors.

Victoria and Kara soon stopped in front of a large metal door. Victoria opened it and brought Kara to the metal table. She then chained her down to the table.

The room looked awfully like the interrogation room. Kara said all she had to say, so hopefully nobody asked her anything else.

"I'm going to be on the other side of this door, so if you try to do anything I'll be on you in less than a second." Victoria threatened.

"Victoria, you've threatened me so many times, but have I ever done anything wrong?" Kara said, fed up with how many times the cop had said something along the lines of, 'if you try anything'.

"You are a suspect of murder, remember?" She answered in a prissy tone.

Touché.

"Yeah, but I didn't do it." Kara murmured under her breath.

Victoria was silent as she tightened Kara's handcuffs a little bit more and left the room.

A few minutes later the door opened again and her parents came running in.

They rushed in the door and hugged Kara.

"Are you okay?" Caleb whispered as he hugged her.

"What have they done to you?" Hanna added as she hugged.

Kara was speechless. Her parents did come for her.

All she wanted to do was hug back, but she was handcuffed.

Her parents pulled back and sat in chairs next to Kara's.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asked again.

Kara sniffled as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm okay." She answered as she felt the first tear fall down her face.

"Has anyone done anything to you? Trust me; I know that prison is not a place filled with friendly faces." Her mother said with concern.

"How do you-" She began, but she changed the subject. "To be honest, it's not that bad."

Her parents looked taken back.

"What?" Hanna asked in disbelief.

"I actually made a friend." Kara began. Her parents were silent. "Her name is Debbie. She's my cellmate."

Still silence.

"She stands up for me. Plus, she believes me and thinks I'm innocent."

"So nobody's hurt you?" Caleb asked.

"Well, I've had lots of threats, mostly from Victoria, but nobody went through with it. That group of guys probably would have done something, but Debbie came to the rescue, and-"

"-Victoria? group of guys? Honey, what happened?" Hanna interrupted.

"Victoria just hates me with a burning passion and when I was out in the courtyard, I was surrounded by a group of older guys who got awfully close, but like I said, Debbie interfered. She later told me that they were all…" She hesitated. "…rapists." She whispered.

Sadness rushed across Caleb and Hanna's already sad faces.

"Oh my god." Hanna murmured as she put her head in her hands.

"Were sorry that you have to go through this." Caleb said as he rubbed his wife's back.

Kara shook her head. "It really isn't that bad. In here, I'm free from A."

"A is the whole reason why you're in here." Hanna said from behind her hands. "You're obviously in here for a reason."

Kara took a deep breath. She really didn't think about that.

"How are Rose, Zoe and Anna?" She asked.

"We don't know." Caleb answered. "We've been too focused on getting you out to look after them. But their parents haven't come to us so obviously nothing terrible."

Kara nodded her head. She now felt a lot better.

Her parents came to see her, her friends were okay, and there haven't been any A attacks.

It felt good to have a break.

"Do you guys have a plan on getting me out of here?" Kara asked in a small voice.

"No." Hanna said as she lifted her head up. "All we really have is the court case. Hopefully the evidence they have isn't that strong and we can override it."

Kara felt herself shake. They really didn't have a plan?

"When's the court case?" She asked.

"Three days." Caleb answered in a low voice.

Kara's jaw dropped. "Three days! Aren't I supposed to get a lawyer or something? I… I…" She wasn't able to finish. She felt herself loosing breath.

Hanna and Caleb quickly got out of their seats and tried to calm Kara down.

"We'll get you a lawyer, okay." Caleb began.

"Yeah, we will get you the best lawyer in Rosewood." Hanna added.

Kara understood what they were saying, but her body wasn't calming down. In fact, it was getting worse.

All she could think about was how screwed she was. It was finally hitting her.

There was no way she could win this court case.

She continued to gasp for air.

All this pressure and realization was hitting Kara straight in the lungs.

"I can't breathe." She gasped out.

"Take deep breaths." Hanna said as she grabbed Kara's cuffed hands.

She watched her mother.

"In…" Hanna said as she took a deep breath in, "…and out." She finished as she breathed out.

Kara followed and repeated this until she felt her heart rate go down.

"I'm screwed." Kara said in a shaky voice.

"Don't say that." Her father said in a strict voice. "Don't make yourself sound guilty."

Kara took one last deep breath as she nodded her head. She felt the last tear roll down her face and she quickly wiped it away.

Then all of a sudden, it hit her.

"Oh my god." She muttered under her breath.

"What?" Hanna questioned.

"A's lair." Kara said as a smile grew over her lips.

Caleb shook his head in confusion. "A's lair? What are you talking about?"

"A's lair has tons of computer screens, each showing a different part of Rosewood, and I swear I heard someone say something about seeing Noel Kahn's cabin.

"I don't understand." Hanna said more confused than ever.

"Those camera's record things, mom. If there was a camera on the Kahn cabin, then that must mean that they were recording the night Zak was killed in the cabin. The footage _has_ to show A going in there with the gun and leaving with the gun. Who knows, maybe A took the extra step and put camera's _inside_ the cabin and then you could actually see A kill Zak." Kara finished.

It was at this point that Kara considered telling her parents that Zak was alive. Her parents were already looking at her weird enough, and her accusing a murdered man of being alive probably wouldn't help.

"It sounds kind of crazy." Caleb said after a minute of awkward silence.

"I know it does, but it can get me out!" She pleaded.

"Where is this lair?" Hanna asked, ignoring what her husband said.

"It's under the abandoned costume shop across the park. Go down the stairs and down the hallway until you get to the big room. From there it's pretty clear." She instructed.

Hanna nodded. "What if this doesn't work?"

"I have a backup plan." Kara answered as she thought of Zak. Hopefully he would pull through and come out to the public that he was alive.

"What kind of a backup plan?" Caleb asked with scrunched up eyebrows.

"I can't tell you." Kara said softly. "But it can work."

Her parents nodded.

"Just don't do anything that can get you in anymore trouble." Her father said.

Kara smiled. "I won't."

Her parents smiled back.

Then there was a loud knock at the door. All three of the Rivers turned around and looked at it open.

Victoria's scowling face popped in the door. "It's time for you to leave now."

"Can we have a few more minutes to say goodbye?" Hanna asked in her most innocent voice ever.

Victoria face didn't change, but she said, "You have one exactly one minute and not a second over." She then left.

Kara turned to her parents. "Remember what I said."

"Remember what _we_ said." Caleb reminded.

She nodded. "I won't."

"And we won't." Hanna said.

Hanna and Caleb then leaned in and gave Kara a warm hug that lasted for a while.

"Goodbye." Kara said into their shoulders.

"Goodbye." Hanna said back.

The three broke apart and Caleb squeezed Kara's shoulder.

"Be safe." He said.

"I'm in prison, dad." Kara said jokingly.

He smiled a half smile. "Just be safe."

She chuckled and nodded. "I will."

The door opened again and Victoria stood in the doorway.

"It's time to go." She said.

Mr. and Mrs. Rivers looked at Victoria to Kara and back to Victoria again.

"Okay." Caleb said sadly. He turned to Kara one last time. "Bye."

"Bye." She said back with a crack in her voice.

As her parents walked past, Hanna reached down and grabbed Kara's cuffed hand and squeezed it and Kara squeezed back.

"Bye." Hanna said with glossy eyes.

"Bye, mom."

Then they were gone and it was just Victoria, but for the first time, Kara didn't really feel scared.

Kara's mother had given her the sign. She squeezed her hand, which was their long going tradition of them telling each other that everything was going to be okay.

And Kara really believed it.

The last time the two girls did the whole hand squeezing thing was the night Kara, Zoe and Anna returned Rose back to her house after the long time of her being missing.

Kara had crawled into her parent's bed and Hanna greeted her with the hand squeeze.

That memory made Kara feel a lot better, and there was nothing that could ruin it.

Not even the fact that Kara was in jail.

Without a word, Victoria transferred Kara to a long chain and started to drag her down the hallway back to her cell.

She looked at all the empty cells the two passed, and she was confused. Kara could have sworn they were all full when they walked to the visiting room.

"Where is everyone?" Kara asked.

"Lunch. That's where I'm taking you." Victoria answered without even turning around to face Kara.

Kara said nothing as she allowed Victoria to take her to the lunchroom.

They stopped at the big metal barred doors that lead to the lunchroom.

Victoria talked into her walkie-talkie and demanded to be let in. Soon after she was done talking, there was a loud buzzing sound and then the door opened.

Victoria turned to Kara and started to unlock her chains.

"If you get into any fights or try anything-"

"'You're going to get beat.'" Kara interrupted in a mocking tone.

Victoria glared at Kara with a threatening tone.

"Sorry." She said quickly when she remembered what she had promised her father.

Victoria did nothing but unlock the chain and push Kara into the sea of inmates.

Kara stumbled forwards as she heard the loud slam of the metal door behind her. She turned around and saw that Victoria had disappeared.

She looked back at the crowd of orange. She looked around for Debbie, and she got scared when she couldn't find her.

She looked stupid just standing there, so Kara decided to move on and get in the lunch line.

She sandwiched in between a tall, hairy man and a thick, pig-looking woman.

When she got to it, Kara grabbed a lunch tray and started to inch towards the food.

Kara looked like a toddler compared to everyone else. She was definitely the shortest inmate in the line.

She was probably the youngest too. Seventeen and in prison for murder.

Life: 1 Kara: 0

The man in front of her reached his hand up and scratched his messy, greasy black hair. As he did this, white particles, hopefully dandruff, flaked down from his scalp.

Kara gagged as she lunged backwards right into the stomach of the large female behind her.

"Hey, watch it kid!" The lady said. She had smokers voice.

She turned around and looked at her wrinkly face.

"Sorry." Kara apologized.

The woman chuckled at her apology. She turned around and talked to another inmate behind her.

"She said sorry." She whispered with a laugh.

Kara frowned as she turned back around. In the time of that conversation, the line only moved a few inches.

She groaned and tilted her head back. It wasn't till now that Kara realized that she was starving. She hadn't eaten since she got into prison, and that was yesterday evening.

Kara was happy to see that the line jumped quite a few feet. She happily moved forwards.

It took her a second to realize that the line moved because everyone was leaving.

Kara looked at what everyone was looking at.

She turned around and looked at the inmate behind her.

"What's going on?" She asked.

It was a man now. "I don't know." He groaned out.

Kara stepped out of line and looked at the crowd of people gathering around something.

"What the-" She didn't get to finish.

Someone, a male inmate, pushed past Kara with force. The force actually knocked Kara on her butt. She landed pretty hard. She probably bruised her tailbone.

Once Kara got back up, she saw an opening in the crowd. She then ran through it in time and got to the front of the crowd and was able to see what was going on.

It was Debbie and some other big, heavy, female inmate. They were fighting a pretty bad fight.

There was blood all over both of their faces and on the floor.

"Don't talk about her!" Debbie yelled as she threw another punch.

The other inmate dodged it. "Why not Debbie? She's not your daughter! You killed your husband before he could pop one in ya!" She said in a southern accent.

This got Debbie fired up and she threw a punch straight in the jaw. Kara watched as the inmate's jaw popped out of place.

Kara pinched her eyes shut in disgust. "Debbie, stop!" She yelled with her eyes shut.

"Kara?" She heard Debbie yell.

She opened her eyes to see Debbie staring at her.

"Ah, look." The inmate said, holding her jaw. "There's your daughter now." The inmate turned to Kara and knelt down to where she was level with Kara.

"How ya doin' lil' Debbie cake." She said in a baby voice.

Kara didn't say anything. All she did was stare right into the woman's eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Debbie yelled. She grabbed the woman by the hair and threw another punch to her face.

It was then that Kara realized that the fight was about her. So, Kara had to stop it.

She jumped in and tried to grab Debbie's fist.

"Stop!" She yelled. "Leave it alone!"

"She can't talk to you like that!" Debbie yelled back, throwing another punch.

"It really doesn't matter!" Kara yelled. "I don't care."

"I care!" Debbie grunted as she took a few steps forwards towards the bloody inmate.

The other inmate took this time to punch Debbie right in the nose. She heard a _pop_ and then blood covered Debbie's face.

Kara turned towards the attacker.

"Stop! She yelled. "Stop it both of you!"

"Shut it, you!" The woman yelled, and then she threw a punch at Kara.

The punch hit Kara in the temple, and immediately she saw her vision blacken.

Her hearing was going out too and her head was pounding.

Did that woman really just punch her?

Even though Kara felt like she could pass out at any second, she would not tolerate getting picked on.

Kara laughed a loud laugh, and through the blackness, she could see the woman's face get flushed in confusion.

"Why is she laughing?" The woman asked.

Kara kept laughing.

"Kid?" Debbie said from behind her.

Kara stopped laughing but kept the sinister grin. She looked at the inmate.

"You dumb bitch." Kara said in a deep tone.

Everyone in the room seemed to get confused. It was like everyone was buffering.

Kara took this to her advantage, and with all her might, she threw her right fist up at the woman's face. She wasn't sure where she was aiming, but Kara felt her fingers crack as her fist locked with the woman's temple.

Everyone gasped, the loudest coming from Debbie.

Kara ignored the heat in her fist as she watched the idiot fall to the floor.

The one punch knocked the woman out. Kara smiled. She was stronger than she thought.

She felt herself getting dizzy, and she was pretty sure she was going to pass out, but she didn't care.

Kara _was_ strong enough to survive prison.

She felt hands grab her, and push her down to the ground. Then the handcuffs tightened on Kara's wrists, but she didn't care.

She was _really_ proud of herself.

And with that pride running through her, she passed out.

* * *

Kara woke up in a dark cell. She looked around and saw that there was nothing in it. No bed, no toilet, no Debbie, nothing.

Where was she?

She tried to stand up by using her hands in support, but she yelled out in pain when her fist decided to burst out in fire.

Not literally, but it felt like it.

Kara looked down at her fist. It was wrapped up in a bloody bandage and there was a cast on her pinky and ring finger.

So she _did_ break a few fingers.

Good. That means that she hit that woman _hard_.

She stood up, and this time, she used only her left hand. When she was up, she looked at the door.

It was different from her normal cell. The door was not barred. It was pure metal with only a little slit for her eyes to peer through.

She looked through the slit and jumped back when she saw Victoria's black eyes.

"Good evening." Victoria said in monotone.

Kara waited for her heart rate to slow back down before she spoke again.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in solitary." She answered.

Kara rubbed her bandaged up fist. "How is the women I knocked out?"

"You mean Diana?" Victoria began. "You knocked her out cold. She's still in the infirmary."

Kara nodded. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not that long actually." Victoria answered. "Few hours."

That made Kara feel even stronger, but her head started to pound again.

"Do you have any aspirin?" Kara asked as she peeked through the hole.

Victoria's eyes squinted. "Yeah."

Kara lifted her shoulders up. "Can I have some?"

"Nope."

Kara grunted and looked away from the window. She leaned up against the cold door.

She slid down and put her head in her hands.

"Please?" She called out.

There was no response.

"Victoria?" She said as she painfully stood back up.

She looked through the hole and didn't see Victoria. In fact, she saw a black hooded figure.

"Hey!" Kara called out. "You son of a bitch! Just wait till I get out of here I will _kill_ you!"

She really shouldn't have shouted that, but she still had some adrenaline her, and after knocking Diana out, she felt like she could do anything.

A turned around and Kara was shocked to see that they were wearing a gas mask.

She was silent as they pulled something out of their pocket. It looked like a grenade.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked with a shaky voice.

They pulled the plug and dropped the thing. Green gas filled the room and Kara started chocking as she felt herself getting sleepy.

"What..." She coughed, "…what are doing!" She finished with a cough attack.

Her vision was getting black again and her coughing wasn't helping.

Kara watched as A stood there motionless.

She coughed some more and gasped before she said, "You bitch!"

A lifted their shoulders up and very slowly and mockingly waved their hand as if saying goodbye.

Kara wanted to scream something back, but her body was done.

She felt herself go limp, as her body slammed to the cold floor.

All that adrenaline that was in her a few seconds ago was now gone.

She closed her eyes as she was taken over by the darkness.

* * *

Anna's eyes were open before she even woke up.

She knew this because they were as dry as a desert.

She blinked repeatedly until she felt the moister return. Once she could see, she looked around.

She was in a dark room. She really couldn't see what was in front of her, but she knew one thing. The floor was padded.

When Anna took a step forwards, she bounced a little.

She took deep breaths as she walked around with her arms out. She flinched when she felt the cold wall. She continued to walk along the wall as she tried to feel for something. A wall, a door, anything.

After walking for what felt like forever, she figured that she was in a _very_ large room, or the room had no windows or doors.

But if the room had no doors, then how the hell did she get in?

Anna took a step back from the wall, but quickly felt herself falling. When she landed, she was pleased to feel the padding.

She sat up and felt for what she tripped over. When she found it, she held the object in confusion.

"What the hell?" She whispered as she felt the object.

It was a box, but it was made out of wood or something. There was an engraving of some sort on it, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"HELP!"

Anna dropped the cube when she heard the blood curdling scream.

It was only a few seconds when she heard it again.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

Anna recognized it as Zoe.

"Zoe!" Anna yelled out.

"HELP!" Zoe continued to scream.

"Zoe calm down!" Anna yelled as she walked towards the screaming.

It was silent for a few seconds.

"Anna?" Zoe yelled.

"Yeah it's me! Where are-" Anna cut off when she ran into a wall. "Ow!" She yelled, rubbing her face.

"Anna? Anna, are you okay?" Zoe yelled with concern.

"I'm fine!" She yelled back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Where are we?" Zoe's faded voice asked.

Anna looked around. Her vision was starting to adjust to the darkness.

"I don't know." Anna answered. She looked up. There must've been a vent or something.

"Is Rose with you?" Zoe yelled.

"No. I was hoping you knew where she was." Anna said, still rubbing her face.

"She's not here. I woke up a few minutes ago."

 _BUZZ….BUZZ…BUZZ_

Anna put her hands up to her ears in response to the loud buzzing.

 _BUZZ!_

That had to be the loudest thing she had ever heard in her life.

"Zoe, are you still there?!" Anna yelled, but Zoe couldn't have heard her. Anna could barely even hear herself.

A blinding light now shone through the room, and Anna had to squint in order to see anything.

When her eyes adjusted, Anna could see that one of the walls was lifting up.

She ran across the room towards the opening wall. She stopped when she saw the wall was replaced with bars.

Anna grabbed them and shook. It was like she was in a jail cell.

When the wall was fully opened, she looked out at what was in front of her.

To her right, there was another cell, just out of Anna's eyesight, but she knew one was there.

Across from Anna's cell, there were too more lined up with Anna's and the other cell about fifty feet away.

Now that there was light, she could easily look around the cage she's trapped in. But Anna was scared.

What horror was behind her? What crazy contraptions could A have possibly come up with to put inside?

Anna took a deep breath.

"On three." She whispered to herself.

"One." She said with her eyes closed.

"Two." They were now open.

"Three." She spun around and gasped.

Anna was trapped in a large room, with bars behind her and metal walls on the other three walls.

The ceiling was very high up. It was at least sixty feet from the ground. But this wasn't the disturbing part.

Anna was trapped in a nursery.

The walls were painted a baby blue, with clouds scattered around randomly.

Hanging from the ceiling, there was a huge mobile, with four angle's swinging from it.

They disturbingly looked like herself, Zoe, Rose and Kara.

As Anna stared at it, it began to turn and hum the soft tune of "Rock-a-bye-baby."

On the ceiling, which was also a baby blue, Anna's name was painted in curvy, red letters circling around the mobile.

She continued to look around the room with shaky hands and breaths.

Scattered around the room were multiple toys. She walked over to the toy that she tripped over.

It was an alphabet block. She had coincidentally tripped over the letter "A."

Anna looked at her feet. The padding of the floor was a soft pink, with white polka dots scattered around.

It was the same padding as what you would find in a crib.

On the far wall across from the barred opening, was a mirror that went from the floor to about thirty feet stretched up the wall.

Anna walked over to it, tripping over a few toys in the process and stared at herself in horror.

Anna was wearing a baby blue dress, but it was designed for an infant.

The chest was blue with puffed out shoulders, while the bottom half ended at her knees. It was poofy and blue with white polka dots.

Plus, she was wearing a bib, with her name stitched in red.

She looked down at her feet. She was wearing black dress shoes with white knee socks.

Then she looked in the mirror at her hair.

Her light brown hair was styled into two low pony tails and a blue headband pulled her hair back.

She stared at herself with tears rolling down her face.

What disturbed her the most was that A did this.

A had physically _changed_ Anna out of the clothes she was in and into this baby dress.

They put their hand on her and did her hair. They put blush on her cheeks and laced her shoes.

This monster was treating her like a doll.

"Anna!"

It was Zoe's voice again.

"Yeah?!" She called back, not looking away from herself.

"Do you look like…?" Zoe trailed off.

"A toddler?" Anna finished. "Yeah."

Anna turned back around and faced the cell across from her. It had opened up also and Anna could see that the room was basically identical to me hers, but instead of everything being baby blue, the room was covered in purple.

"Where is everyone?" Anna heard Zoe say from the cell next to her.

"I don't know." Anna replied, studying the cell across from her.

She figured that the outside was identical to Anna's, so if she spotted an escape lever or something on that cell, she could find it on hers and get out.

Anna stated to examine the cage's outsides while Zoe mumbled something about sweat.

There was movement in the cage and Anna's eyes darted towards it.

She saw a confused Rose dressed in all purple stand up with a head on her forehead.

"Rose!" Anna yelled as she stuck her face through the bars.

Anna saw her look around confused but she stopped and focused on her.

"Anna?" Rose called. She then looked over at Zoe's cage. "Zoe, is that you?"

"Sadly." Zoe answered.

"Where the hell are we?" Rose yelled.

Anna shook her head. "I don't know. But A for sure did this."

"Well, obviously." Rose said as she turned around and looked at her cage.

"Why do I look like this?" Rose said with panic in her tone.

"We know as much as you do, Rose." Zoe answered.

She turned back around and shook the bars. "So that means that you don't know where Kara is?"

"No." Anna and Zoe said at the same time.

"Hopefully A didn't get to her and she can find a way to get us out." Anna answered.

"God, what is A going to do to us?" Zoe whispered to herself.

"They can't do anything too bad." Anna replied. "Without us, A is powerless."

"Is not the physical pain I'm worried about," Zoe said in a low tone. "It's the mental pain."

Anna swallowed hard. That was the scary thing. A was more dangerous to the mind than to the overall body.

Anna stepped away from the barred opening and paced around her cell.

She was really starting to worry about Kara. Was she still in jail or did A already have her?

Anna stopped pacing when she passed by herself in the mirror. All she wanted to do was rip of her entire outfit, but she would rather be dressed as a one year old than be naked.

The least she could do was rip off the stupid bib around her neck. She grabbed it and tugged it off her neck. It left a rug burn around her neck but she didn't care. As long as she had _some_ control with what A was doing to her.

Anna continued to stare at her depressed looking self in the mirror, but she soon turned around when she heard a buzzing sound.

She turned at looked out of the cage. Rose was away from the bars on her cage and she was probably exploring and Anna could hear Zoe kicking something around. It was probably a ball, so what could that humming sound be?

Anna walked up to the bars, but when she got close, she noticed that the hairs on her arms started to stand up.

"What the hell?" She whispered to herself as she stared at her arms.

It was then that Anna realized that the buzzing sound was coming from right in front of her, and the only thing in front of her were the bars.

Anna looked around for something she could throw. She spotted a doll in the corner of her cell so she ran and grabbed that. She looked at it.

It was dressed exactly like Anna. In fact, it had her light brown hair and green eyes,

Anna rolled her eyes and ripped the head of the Anna imposter. She then ran back to the bars and looked at the hairs on her arms again.

They were even higher than before.

Anna was pretty sure she knew what was going on, but she had to make sure.

She took the doll and tossed it at the bars. Just as expected, the doll head started to sizzle up with electricity and the smell of melted plastic started to waft through the cell.

Anna sighed. The electric bars could really hurt one of the girls. Was A really willing to do that to them?

Maybe they weren't going to be as gentle as Anna thought.

A loud _thunk_ sounded from outside the cage, so Anna carefully leaned forwards to see what was going on.

A large garage-like door was lifting up to the right of Anna and Zoe's cage.

Anna looked forwards and saw Rose running at the end of the cage and she was about to grab the bars.

"Don't touch the bars!" Anna yelled over the sound of door opening.

Rose looked at Anna, signaling that she heard her, but she must not have processed it.

"Stop!" Anna screamed while she looked right into Rose's eyes.

Rose stopped and nodded her head at Anna.

"Wait, what's going on?" Zoe yelled.

"The bars have electricity running through them. If we touch them… well let's hope we don't find out." Anna said, backing up from the bars.

She stretched her neck into a very uncomfortable position as she looked at what was going on at the door.

There was a blinding white light, which meant that must be the outside.

Through the light, a black figure emerged holding a blob of orange.

Anna recognized it as A and Kara immediately.

"Put her down!" Anna yelled.

A looked at Anna through their mask but didn't put Kara down.

"Kara!" Zoe yelled. "Wake up!"

"Oh my god." Rose muttered from her cell. "Kara!" She yelled.

A ignored all the yelling as they walked over to the cell to the left of Rose and across from Zoe.

The bars started to rise up and Anna saw that the room was the same as hers and Rose and most likely Zoe's. The only difference was that Kara's room was covered in orange unlike Rose's purple room and Anna's blue.

A set Kara down in her cell and grabbed something off a shelf in the cell. It was an orange children's dress, just like Anna's, a bid, shoes and socks.

"Leave her alone!" Anna yelled from her cell, but A didn't even turn their head to acknowledge her.

Anna watched in horror as A started to undress Kara's unconscious body out of her orange prison jumpsuit.

"What are you doing?" Anna heard Zoe yell in disgust.

Rose had a look of confusion on her face. Kara's cell was next to hers so she couldn't see what was going on. It was like how Anna was next to Zoe's cell so Anna had no way of seeing Zoe.

Rose was lucky though. She didn't have to see the horror of A undressing Kara.

Anna felt her hands shake as A removed the jumpsuit completely and left Kara in just her bra and underwear.

A stopped their for a second and stared at Kara up and down. It was disgusting.

Anna felt like she was going to puke.

It didn't matter if A was a boy or a girl, staring at someone in that state without consent is horrible.

A reached down to grab Kara's face but Anna screamed, "Don't touch her!" in her loudest voice possible.

It was quiet as Anna's voice quietly echoed throughout the large room.

The only other sound was the sound of Zoe whimpering in her cell.

A turned their head towards Anna and glared for what felt like forever.

She tried to stay strong, but the disgusting pig got to her and she felt a tear roll down her face.

A shook their head slowly and mockingly. They then turned back to Kara and grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up and threw her limp body over their shoulder.

Anna was shaking as she watched A treat Kara like a doll.

They ran their hands through her hair as they styled it in two messy buns on top of her head. A then reached down and grabbed the dress and they slowly brought it up Kara's body.

Watching this was torture.

"I swear to god, if you do anything to her I will kill you!" Anna grunted through gritted teeth. She saw that Rose was staring at her with a scared expression.

Anna was probably scaring her, but that didn't matter right now.

She _will_ kill A if they do anything to any of her friends. She doesn't care what it takes. She will do it.

A turned back around and looked at Anna. Without looking away, they pulled something out of their pocket. It looked like a remote.

A pressed their thumb down on the button, and almost immediately, Anna heard a rumble and the ground started to shake.

Anna saw the wall start to rise again, and in a matter of seconds, I would close all the way and she would be shut out in the darkness again. But she didn't care about being alone in the dark again. It scared her more knowing that Kara was going to be alone with A.

"Hey!" Anna called. "I'm serious! I will kill you!" She yelled as the top of the wall to all the cages closed up.

The room went black and all Anna could hear was her own breath.

She breathed in and out and ripped the pigtails out of her hair in rage.

There was nothing she could do. She and her friends were screwed.

A could do whatever they wanted to her and the others without being stopped.

What had Anna gotten herself into?

She had no idea how to get out, but she did know one thing.

At this exact moment, she had the rage to kill ten people and the only way to get rid of all the rage to scream.

So that's what she did.

* * *

 **AN: Bum bum BUMMMMMMMMM**

 **So it's official, A has _all_ of the girls now. Plus, it looks like it's going to be harder to get out than they thought.**

 **Also, I am going to include a parent chapter in their perspectives as they try to look for their kids so watch out for that. I'm not sure when I'll do it but I will.**

 **That's all I have to say so I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-Jessica**


	45. Faith

**AN: HI!**

 **IAmLife followed while AnimeLoverGirl15 and anitamannio88 followed and favorited!**

 **Thank you all!**

 **Alright, so after this chapter, you** _ **should**_ **get the overall theme of the place they are trapped in, so feel free to leave suggestions and stuff.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The doors closed and there was silence.

Well, at least for a few seconds.

From the darkness, Zoe heard Anna's screams through the vents.

Zoe closed her eyes and tried to ignore the screams. She also tried to forget what she had just witnessed, but it was impossible.

The way that A was treating Kara, as if she was a doll, was both disturbing and shocking.

As her eye's adjusted, she made her way over to an alphabet block. They were pretty big, big enough for a person to sit on.

Zoe felt for the block and she sat on it. Her legs were aching from the all standing she had been doing.

She felt down her right leg. Surprisingly, A kept Zoe's leg brace on.

Zoe took a deep breath as she loosened the brace a little. When A changed her into the atrocious pink children's dress, they had to have taken the brace off and then put it back on. And they did so _way_ to tight.

When she was done, she slouched down in the silence. It was pure silence.

Zoe perked her head up as she noticed that Anna's screaming had stopped. She had either given up or lost her voice.

It didn't matter, Zoe was just happy that she stopped.

She stared straight ahead of her in the darkness. She inhaled and exhaled in boredom. There was nothing to do.

Zoe knew that once that wall opened again, A would play some sick game and Zoe would wish for the darkness again, but she wished that there was _something_ she could do.

"Anna!" Zoe called out.

No response.

"Anna, are you there?" She tried again.

"What, Zoe?" Anna said with a scratchy voice.

Zoe really didn't think Anna would respond, so she was at a loss of words.

"I'm bored." Zoe eventually said.

She heard a stiff laugh come out of the vent.

"A has us held captive and the only thing you can think of is how bored you are?" Anna said in a snarky tone.

Zoe shook her head, even though she knew that Anna couldn't see her.

"That's not what I meant." Zoe called back.

But there was no reply from Anna.

"Whatever." Zoe mumbled.

Zoe stayed on the uncomfortable alphabet block as she felt the sweating start up again.

She wiped it off her forehead as she felt a drip fall down her back. Zoe groaned as she felt it build up.

She was sick of sweating and she would do anything to stop it.

Zoe was happy that she couldn't see herself; because she was pretty sure she looked like a disgusting, sweaty pig.

"God, can I please stop sweating!" Zoe yelled at herself when a drop fell down her face.

She stood up off the block and started to pace around. She found out that movement stopped the sweat a little, but walking also made her legs shake more so she had to decide if she wanted sweat or shaky legs.

She would choose shaky legs any day.

The loud buzz signaling the wall lifting up sounded throughout the cell again.

The wall opened quickly and the sudden light blinded Zoe. She put a hand to her wet forehead as she waited for her eyes to adjust.

A figure stood in front of the bars, and Zoe automatically assumed it was A, but as her vision went clear, she saw it wasn't.

Zoe's eye's widened as she saw Daniel standing in front of her cell.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked as she slowly backed up.

"I'm paying my debt to a friend." He said in a sinister voice. Zoe continued to back up.

"Friend?" Zoe asked with a hint a fear in her voice. "You mean A?"

Daniel put a hand on the bar and shook it, which made Zoe jump.

"Yup." He answered. "A friend."

"What did A do that's making you 'pay your debt?'" Zoe asked, still backing up. She looked over Daniel's shoulder and to her horror; she realized that none of the other cages were open, so Daniel and Zoe were alone.

Daniel let go of the cage and continued to stare at Zoe.

"I can't tell you that." He said, answering Zoe's question.

Zoe groaned loudly.

"Wow, haven't heard that in a while." He said with a smirk, referring to Zoe's groan.

"Shut up!" Zoe yelled at him. "Don't talk about that night."

"I can say whatever I want, Zoe the hoe. You're the one who's behind bars." He said. It really made Zoe tick when he called her 'Zoe the hoe.' That was the nickname he had given her way before this whole A thing started.

"Well you should know how it feels." Zoe said back. "At least I'm not in jail for rape."

"And I'm not either." He said, still smirking. "Not anymore."

Zoe closed her eyes. "Okay, why are you here?"

"I have a gift." Daniel said as he reached into his pocket.

Zoe didn't move. "What kind of gift?"

"A gift from A." He said, pulling the thing out. Zoe was too far away to see what it was.

"What is it?"

"You'll have to come closer and see for yourself." He said, shaking the object.

"I don't want it." Zoe said as she backed into the wall.

"No, I insist. A _really_ wants you to have it." He said in a sinister tone.

"Daniel, please. I don't want it."

"When you know what it is you will."

"I can assure that I don't want it." Zoe said as she rested her head on the cold, metal, pink walls.

"I just heard you scream that you want to stop sweating." He lifted the thing up. "This will do it."

Zoe's attention suddenly focused on the object in Daniel's hand.

"It will?" She questioned.

"Absolutely."

Zoe took slow, cautious steps towards Daniel. When she got to the bars, he stared at her up and down.

"You look terrible."

Zoe fake smiled and fake laughed. "Thanks."

Daniel showed Zoe the gift box that held the object. She reached her hand out to grab it, but Daniel shot his hand back.

"Not so fast!" He said, holding the object just out of Zoe's reach.

"What?" Zoe said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not just going to give this to you. You have to do something for me."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Like what?"

Daniel looked up at the ceiling. "Hmn, I don't know."

She felt another drop fall down her back. "Can you hurry up and pick something?"

He stared at her. "Now, let's not be hasty. This gift is going to help you so much, I need something _amazing_ in return."

Zoe sighed. "Fine."

Daniel sat there for a few seconds as he thought about what he wanted.

"Ah-ha!" He said loudly. "I want a kiss."

Zoe lifted her eyebrows up. "A kiss?"

"Yup. Your lips to mine. Then and only then you can have your gift."

Zoe clenched up her fist. "There's nothing else you want?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"You don't want to think about it?"

"Going once… going twice…" He said, slowly walking away from the cage.

"Okay, okay! Fine." Zoe said frantically. She needed whatever was in that box.

Daniel smiled. "Good."

Zoe took a deep breath as she pinched her eyes closed and leaned forwards.

Before she even expected it, she felt his wet lips on hers. She jumped a little bit.

She counted to three in her head.

One…

Two…

Three..

She ripped away and wiped her mouth. She wanted to spit too, but she would wait until he left.

He smiled again. "Thanks."

"Can I have the box now?" Zoe said, reaching her hand out.

Daniel happily handed her the box, and she quickly snatched it away. She held it in her arms while he watched her.

"You can leave now." She said, backing away.

"Not yet. I want to see the look on your face once you see what's in that box."

Zoe was going to say something snooty back, but she didn't. The faster she got this done, the faster Daniel would leave.

She ripped open the box and she stared at the orange pill bottle.

"Do you not recognize it?" Daniel asked.

She looked up at him. "Steroids?"

"Ah, so you do!" He said happily.

Zoe took the pill bottle out and chucked them at the wall. "How dare you give these to me!"

"I didn't give them to you. A did."

"Well tell A I said, 'Fuck you!'" She yelled.

Daniel took a step back. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have a constant sweat dripping all over your body right?"

Zoe said nothing, she only glared at him.

"This sweating is from withdrawals and these withdrawals are from the steroids. You _hate_ sweating and you would do anything to stop it, and the only way to stop the sweating from the withdrawals is to end the withdrawals. A figured it out, and being the caring person they are, gave you the steroids back so you don't have to suffer because of the sweat."

Zoe crossed her arms. "I'd rather go to hell than take those steroids."

"Oh, Zoe." Daniel said as he pulled a remote out of his pocket and clicked a button. "You're already there."

The wall then began to lift up as Daniel's laughter erupted through the room.

"Screw you!" Zoe yelled before the wall closed.

The wall closed all the way and Zoe was left in the dark again.

"Ahh!" She screamed as she kicked over an alphabet block.

She took deep breaths as she ran her fingers through her wet hair.A light went on above Zoe's head that she hadn't seen before. It was behind the mobile on the ceiling and shown off shadows of the angels on the wall. It illuminated the walls in an eerie green color.

She looked up at the light and she noticed that there was a camera with a blinking red dot.

"What?" She yelled up. "What do you want me to do!"

"Zoe, what are you talking about?" Anna called from the vent.

She turned her head as she saw the brown vent on the wall leading to Anna's room.

"I'm not talking to you." Zoe yelled back.

"Who are you talking to?" Anna called back in confusion.

Zoe shook her head as she tried to think of something to say.

"Myself, shh!" She yelled back and Anna followed her order and stayed silent.

Zoe looked back up at the camera and she saw that it moved. It was now pointing at the corner that Zoe had threw the pill bottle.

She looked at the corner and saw that sprawled pills all over the floor.

"I'm not taking them!" She yelled.

The camera did nothing but blink its red light.

"I'm not!"

Nothing.

"No!" She yelled.

It was like the red light was mocking her.

She looked back over at the corner at the pills. She felt her body ache for them.

"Fine." She grunted. She then walked over to the corner. "But only because you're making me."

She knew A wasn't making her do anything, but she needed an excuse.

She picked up two pills with shaky hands.

Zoe wanted to think that she fought the urge off as hard as she could, but she didn't.

She needed these pills. She needed to stop sweating.

She popped the pills in her mouth and swallowed them both at the same time.

Almost immediately, Zoe felt a difference. She felt herself stop sweating.

And she smiled.

A loud sound came from in front of Zoe and she jumped.

The wall in front of her had a door that she never noticed. It was just like the wall that lifted up, but instead off the whole wall lifting up, only a small sliver of the wall did.

It was big enough for Zoe to fit through.

Without hesitation, Zoe squeezed through it and looked around. She was in a dark dingy hallway that was barely lit up with dull lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling.

Small yellow arrows made from duck tape were on the floor and Zoe followed them with her eyes. They led around a corner.

Zoe looked behind her and she saw a dead end. Zoe took a step towards the dead end just as Anna popped out of her cell.

"Anna!" Zoe yelled as she ran towards her and hugged her.

"Oh my god, Zoe." Anna said as she hugged Zoe back.

Anna was wearing a dress identical to Zoe's except hers was blue.

Anna and Zoe broke away from their hug and Anna looked down the hallway.

"Where do you think A's taking us?" Anna asked.

"I don't know." Zoe replied.

"Should we follow the arrows?" Anna asked.

"Of course we should." Zoe said walking down the hallway. "Maybe it will take us to Rose and Kara."

Zoe turned around to see Anna following her.

"Yeah, maybe." Anna replied.

Zoe turned back around and looked at the ground. She followed the arrows down the hall and around the corner.

She looked up and saw that this only led to another long hallway.

"Please let Rose and Kara be up here." Zoe whispered while she kept walking.

They turned the corner and they ended up in a big room with multiple doors.

"Where do we go?" Zoe asked Anna.

Anna stepped in front of Zoe as she looked around the room.

"Probably the door with the large yellow arrow above it." She said, pointing to a door.

"It looks kind of sketchy." Zoe said as she looked at it.

"This whole situation is pretty sketchy." Anna said as she headed towards the door.

"Wait!" Zoe called out.

Anna turned around and looked at her.

"There's another hallway right there." Zoe said, pointing to another hallway.

"So?" Anna said. "The arrows don't tell us to go there."

"Rose and Kara could be coming from this hallway." Zoe pointed out.

Anna nodded. "Good point."

Right after she said that, a tired Rose waddled into the room. Her eyes grew bigger as she looked at Anna and Zoe.

She turned her head around and yelled, "Kara come here!" down the hallway.

Zoe ran up to Rose and hugged her.

"Hi, Zoe." Rose said as she hugged Zoe back.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

"I'm fine. Are you?"

"I'm fine." Zoe said. She would tell them about the steroid thing later.

Zoe and Rose broke apart when they heard footsteps coming down the hall.

Then, a beat up looking Kara entered the room.

"Kara!" Zoe yelled as she ran at Kara now and tackled her in a hug.

Kara tripped back as Zoe's weight knocked her off balance, but she quickly got it back.

Kara wrapped her arms around Zoe and squeezed tightly.

"Are you okay? Did they like, beat you in prison?" Zoe asked, taking a step back.

Kara stepped around Zoe and began to walk towards Anna.

Kara pointed to a big purple spot on her temple. "I got this from a lady named Diana."

Zoe gasped as Kara went and hugged Anna.

"I hope you hit Diana back." Anna said as her and Kara broke apart.

"I hit her back harder. In fact, I knocked her out cold."

"Wow." Zoe said, looking at Kara.

"I'll do the same to A when I see them." She said confidently.

"They could be in there." Rose said, nodding towards the door with the arrow.

"Well then let's go." Kara said, stomping over to the door.

"Wait, Kara, we don't know what's in there!" Zoe yelled as she ran after Kara.

"I don't care what's in there, Zoe. I just need to beat the living shit out of A." Kara said as she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Kara, wait!" Zoe yelled, but it was too late.

Kara had already opened the door.

* * *

Rose looked at Kara who had just opened the door.

"What's in there?" She asked Kara, who was standing in the doorway.

Kara took a step back and gestured towards the door. "Take a look."

Rose took a few steps forwards as she entered in the doorway. It was hard to describe what she was seeing.

It looked like a kitchen, but just like everything else, it was baby-fied.

The walls had a childish rainbow pattern and the table in the middle of the room was white with blue, pink, purple and orange polka-dots.

Other things littered the room like toys, dresses and other things.

"What is it, Rose?" Zoe asked from behind her.

Rose turned around and stared at her friend's confused faces.

"I think A wants us to eat." Rose said stepping into the room.

"What do you mean?" Anna said, following Rose. When she stepped into the room and looked around, she peeped out a, "Oh."

All four girls were in the room looking around in horror.

Rose walked around the room and stopped once she reached the table. There were five seats. Four of the five had nametags.

"Guys." Rose said, calling over the other three girls. Once they gathered around the table, Rose pointed at the nametags. "Look."

"There's no way I'm eating anything A gives me." Kara said walking back towards the door.

As Kara was inches from it, the door slammed closed and a large hum sounded from it, signaling that the door locked.

"I don't think A's going to let us out of here until we eat." Anna said.

Kara turned around with a worried look. She put a hand to her head as she walked back to the table.

"Okay, fine. Let's just get this over with." She said, sitting down where her nametag assigned her to.

Rose looked and saw that she had to sit down to the right of Kara so she plopped down warily. Then Anna sat down across from Rose and Zoe sat to the right of her.

It was just like the cage setup. Except there was the one empty seat at the end of the table. Rose was scared to see who would end up there.

"So now what?" Rose asked when everyone sat down.

"We wait." Anna replied.

Silence filled the room. The only sound was the sound of everyone's breath.

A loud rumbling sound sounded through the room.

"What was that?" Zoe asked as she looked around the room.

"My stomach." Rose answered. She brought her hand down to her stomach and rubbed it.

It wasn't until now that she realized that she hadn't eaten in at least a day.

"Oh." Zoe mumbled.

Seconds after, the door opened abruptly which made Rose jumped.

She looked over her shoulder to see who opened the door.

"Chelsey?" Anna asked with anger in her voice.

Chelsey released a grin. "Good morning."

Two things about this disturbed Rose.

One: Chelsey was in on this? Rose knew that she was never really a good person, but she really chose to side with A?

And two: It was morning? How long had the girls been away? How many nights had it been? Rose thought that this was their first night, but apparently it was morning.

Chelsey entered the room with a tray in her hands. She set the tray down in the middle of the table and sat in the empty seat, diagonal from Rose and Anna.

She sat down with a smile and looked at each girl individually, but she frowned when she saw Anna.

Chelsey pointed to Anna's chest.

"Where's your bib?" She asked.

Anna glared at Chelsey. "I took it off."

"Why?" Chelsey sounded legitimately hurt.

"Oh, I don't know." Anna said sarcastically. "Maybe because I'm not one."

Chelsey tilted her head. "Well then." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a red bib.

"Good thing I kept this." She laughed. "And to think that I thought you all would actually behave."

She unfolded the bid and walked towards Anna.

"Where are you pigtails?" Chelsey said with more hurt.

"I took those out to." Anna said, smiling.

Chelsey made a _tisk_ sound as she tried to put the bib on Anna.

Anna stood up and backed away from Chelsey.

"Don't touch me!" Anna warned.

Chelsey pursed her lips. And without warning, she brought her hand up and backhanded Anna across the face.

Anna put a hand to her cheek in shock.

Rose felt her mouth hanging open. She was sure everyone else's were too.

" _Sit down_." Chelsey said in a threatening tone.

Anna said nothing as she sat down and held her cheek.

When she sat down, Chelsey reached down at tied the bib around Anna's neck.

This new bib was blood red with the words "bAd girl" sewn in curvy black letters.

Chelsey swallowed as she lifted the cover of the tray up.

A stack of pancakes stood on the tray with smaller bowls holding butter packets and syrup.

"Dig in." Chelsey said as she sat back down.

Nobody moved.

"Do you want to starve?" Chelsey said when nobody moved.

Rose felt her stomach rumble again, so she reached out and grabbed a plate, two pancakes, a butter packet and syrup.

Kara gently elbowed Rose.

"What are you doing?" Kara scolded.

"Look, I'm starving." Rose said, buttering her pancake. "I'm going to eat."

Everyone's eyes were on Rose while she cut into the pancake and dipped it into the syrup.

She stuffed it into her mouth and she swore that she saw everybody hold her breath.

Rose swallowed as the warm, fluffy, delicious pancake ran over her taste buds.

"Do you feel weird?" Zoe asked.

Rose shook her head as she took another bite.

"There just pancakes, Zoe." Chelsey said. "They won't harm you. Unlike the pills you swallowed not even ten minutes ago."

Rose shot her eyes over to Zoe and she saw the color drain from her face.

"What?" Anna yelled at Zoe.

Zoe slid down her chair a little bit while everyone stared her down.

"What pills?" Rose questioned.

"Look, I was desperate." Zoe said in her most confident voice ever.

"Wait, what pills?" Kara asked.

Rose then remembered how Kara was in jail when Zoe figured out her medications were actually steroids.

"A slipped steroids into my medication for my leg and when I figured out what they were, I stopped." Zoe explained.

"Actually, it was my idea to give you steroids." Chelsey said.

Rose looked over at her. It looked like she was done with the conversation and was barley paying attention.

"What?" Zoe questioned.

"A and I knew that you needed your strength for upcoming events, so I suggested steroids. They didn't really agree, but I did it anyways." She said with a smirk.

Zoe's mouth hung open. "Are you the one who sent that text?"

In response, Chelsey winked.

"Ugh, it was you." Zoe said, looking at the pile of pancakes.

"Okay, how did you even get the pills this time?" Anna asked from across the table.

"Someone came to my cage and said they had a gift from A." Zoe said as she picked at her nails.

"Did this someone have a face?" Rose asked.

"It was Daniel." Zoe said, looking up.

Silence.

"He came to my cage and said he had a gift. I didn't know what it was at first, but he told me that the gift would help me stop sweating. I was soaked and sick of it, so I said I would take it." Zoe explained.

"Did he just give it to you?" Kara asked as she grabbed a pancake.

"He said he would give it to me if I kissed him." Zoe said as her voice cracked.

Rose felt her fingers twitch. How many people were working for A? And were they all disgusting pigs?

A small laugh escaped from Chelsey's lips.

"What now?" Rose asked, getting annoyed.

Chelsey looked up at the girls.

"That was my idea again." She said.

Zoe slammed her fist down on the table. "Do you just have to ruin my life?"

Chelsey tilted her head and pouted her lips. "Oh, I'm sorry, should I write you an apology poem? What rhymes with 'Suck it up, Zoe?'"

Zoe took a deep breath in and clenched her fists.

"So you kissed him?" Rose asked, trying to get the attention away from Chelsey.

"Yes."Zoe said angrily. "And when I saw what was in the box I threw them across the room and they spilled everywhere. Then Daniel closed the cage and a light turned on and I saw a camera. It pointed over to pills and temptation took over."

"God, I'm sorry, Zoe." Anna said sympathetically.

"I just wish I could get my hands on Daniel and strangle him to death." Kara said as she imitated strangling someone.

"If you touch him I will personally kill you myself." Chelsey said sternly.

"Are you like, in love with him or something?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"No." Chelsey said. "I actually have a taste for women."

Rose scrunched up her eyebrows. "Wait, you're a lesbian?"

"Is that a problem?"

Rose didn't answer.

"Wait, what about Dylan?" Anna asked.

"He was just a cover-up. I actually had a slight interest in you, Anna, and I was quite hurt when you told me you were still in love with Dylan."

Anna stared at Chelsey with slight disgust in her eye.

Chelsey ignored it. "If I were you, I would eat. It might be a while before you all do it again." She then stood up and walked over to the fridge in the corner. She pulled out orange juice and brought it over to the girls.

She walked over to the door and opened it. "Don't do anything stupid."

Kara laughed. "You sound like Victoria."

Chelsey smiled. "Thanks." She then walked out the door and closed it.

"It wasn't a complement!" Kara yelled before the door fully closed.

"Are you sure the pancakes aren't weird?" Anna asked Rose.

"They're fine." Rose said, looking down at the half-eaten pancake.

If Chelsey was telling the truth about it being a while before they all ate again, Rose was going to make sure she ate until she felt like she was going to throw up.

With that though, she stuffed the pancake in her mouth along with everyone else at the table.

Rose finished her third pancake and she leaned back. She was at the point of throwing up if she ate any more.

Rose saw Anna grab the glass of orange juice and spin the glass around to make waves around the glass.

"Have you even eaten?" Rose asked her.

"I had one." Anna said, not looking away from the glass.

"You heard what Chelsey said." Rose said, sipping the orange juice.

"Yeah, I heard what she said, and I'm a little disgusted by her right now and I don't really trust her at the moment."

"Kara, Rose and I all ate the pancakes and we feel fine. You don't have to worry about A drugging us." Zoe said.

"I ate one too; I just don't know what I feel about it, okay?" Anna said, looking up.

"We just don't want you to starve." Kara said after she swallowed her gulp of orange juice.

"Don't worry about me." Anna said. "Worry about yourselves."

After she finished speaking, the door leading out to the hallways that led back to the cages opened.

"I guess it's time to go back." Rose said as she stared out into the hallway.

Anna pushed out her chair and stood up. "Let's go."

Zoe and Kara reluctantly stood up and walked towards the door.

They all walked out to the room with the multiple doors.

"What do you think are behind these?" Rose asked as she shook a doorknob. It was locked.

"A could be behind one of these doors." Zoe said.

They were silent.

"I never got to say goodbye." Anna said as her voice cracked.

Rose turned around and saw Anna hunched over with a few tears rolling down her eyes.

"We didn't think A would take us, it's okay." Rose said, comforting Anna.

"Our parents are probably so scared." Zoe mumbled.

"They'll find us." Kara said confidently. "They defeated A once, they can do it again."

Rose nodded. "I know."

An alarm blared above the girl's heads and Rose covered her ears with her hands.

After a few seconds, the alarm stopped and Chelsey's voice came out of a speaker.

"You have one minute to get back to your rooms." Her voice echoed.

"Or what?" Kara yelled back.

"Or you die." Chelsey responded back.

Rose gulped as she turned to look at the hallway her and Kara would have to walk down.

"I guess we should head back then." Rose said.

"Yeah, let's go." Zoe said as she walked over to the other hallway.

"Hold on." Kara said. "I might hang back."

Rose turned around and grabbed Kara's arm.

"What, do you want to die?" Rose scolded.

"I think the bitch it bluffing." Kara said as she stared at a camera in the corner.

"She's not, let's go." Rose said as she tugged Kara's arm.

Kara finally moved and walked towards the hallway.

Rose turned around and saw Anna and Zoe already heading down the hallway.

"Bye!" Rose yelled.

"Bye!" She heard Zoe's voice squeak and then she and Anna disappeared down a corner.

Rose turned back to Kara. "Let's go."

The two then walked down the hall quickly as they swerved around the corners.

The two got back to their cages and they probably had about twenty seconds left of the minute Chelsey warned them about.

"You first." Rose said as she waited for Kara to get in her cage.

"Why?" Kara asked.

"I want to make sure you don't stay out here and get yourself killed."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Fine."

She then reluctantly stepped into her cage. Rose went in hers quickly after.

As soon as Rose was in the cage, the door slammed behind her.

Then she was in the darkness.

"Now what." She said to herself.

She felt for the padded ground and sat down on it.

She picked at her hair as she tried to come up with an escape plan, but Rose hadn't seen enough of the place they were in to come up with one.

 _HISSSSSSSS_

Rose turned her head towards the hissing sound.

It was coming from the vent and it smelled terrible. It was making Rose cough.

"Rose, cover your mouth!" Rose heard Kara yell through the vent.

She coughed as she answered. "What?"

"Just do it!"

But it was too late. Rose felt her legs get weak and it was near impossible to keep her eyes open.

The pancakes might not have had drugs in them, but this air definitely did.

Rose's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she tipped over.

She was knocked out before her body hit the floor.

* * *

 **AN: Ahh drugs!**

 **Okay, so just a heads up, a lot of things are going to be revealed in the next few chapters so watch out for that.**

 **Also, leave suggestions on stuff A and their little helpers can do to the girls.**

 **Thanks!**

 **-Jessica**


	46. ParentAl guidAnce

**AN: HI!**

 **Okay, so this chapter is going to be a** _ **little**_ **bit out of control.**

 **But bear with me! It's going to be a good one ;)**

* * *

"She's not answering her phone, Ezra!" Aria said as she slammed her IPhone down on the counter.

She heard a slight crack, but she didn't care.

"Try again." Ezra said as he picked up his wife's now cracked phone and handed it to her.

Aria pushed his hand down. "It's no use. We haven't been able to contact Rose for three days now."

Ezra looked down and grabbed Aria's hands. They were warm and welcoming, but they didn't calm her down.

"Have you heard any news from the others?" Aria asked. As far as she knew, Zoe and Anna were missing too.

"Actually yes." Ezra said in a low tone.

Aria perked up. "What is it?"

Ezra hesitated before he spoke. "Kara's gone to."

She felt herself slouch again as she removed her hands from Ezra's. She put a hand to her forehead.

"How? She's in jail, how could she get out?" Aria asked frantically.

"Toby's baffled. He has no idea how this could happen." Ezra said, taking a few steps towards her.

Aria felt her lip quiver, signaling that she was about to cry.

"So they're all missing?" She asked.

Ezra sighed. "Yeah."

The first tear fell down her face.

"Do you think it's A?" He asked.

Aria gripped the table next her. "Of course it is. Why else would they all be missing?"

Ezra nodded while he rubbed his hands on his pants. "Okay, I'm going to call them all over."

Aria nodded while she bit her nails. "Thanks."

He walked out of the room and from the kitchen, Aria could hear a husband.

"Emily, Hi…" He then walked out of earshot.

Aria sat down on the couch and brought her knees up to her chest. She felt like a child as she cried into her arms, but she didn't care. A had taken Rose and the others, and all these memories shot back at Aria like a shotgun.

All the A flashbacks flooded into Aria's brain, and she kept associating them with Rose.

She was going through all these things too. And right now, Rose and the others were going through their own little dollhouse.

Charlotte had done _terrible_ things to Aria, Hanna, Emily, Spencer and Mona that still gave her nightmares. It broke Aria's heart knowing that Rose had to go through it now.

Ezra walked back into the room a few minutes later with the phone to his ear.

"…Okay, thanks, Caleb." He brought the phone down and ended the call.

He looked at Aria all curled up in her little sad ball and he gave her a sad look. He walked over to the couch and sat down, wrapping his arms around her.

"They're all on their way over." Ezra said.

Aria adjusted her head so she was now looking at him.

"Did you call Mona and Mike?" She asked.

"No." Ezra said with a confused look. "Why would I-"

Aria cut him off. "-Mona was in the dollhouse too."

Ezra nodded. "Okay, I'll go call them."

"No." Aria said as she broke apart from her ball.

"No?" Ezra asked with his phone now in his hand.

"Let _me_ call them." Aria said grabbing the phone.

He didn't argue as he let her snatch the phone from her.

She dialed Mona's number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Mona said after only a few rings.

"Hi, Mona." Aria said as she tucked a hair behind her ear.

"What's up?" Mona asked.

Aria took a deep breath and she tried to keep her voice steady. "Um… Rose is gone."

"Gone?" Mona said with extreme concern. "What do you mean 'gone?'"

"She missing. Kara, Zoe and Anna are too." Aria said, her voice shacking a little. Hopefully, Mona understood what she was saying.

"Okay." Mona said. There was some movement on the other side of the line. "We're on our way over."

Aria exhaled a huge breath. "See you soon." She then brought the phone down and she shakily ended the call.

She handed it back to Ezra.

"Good job." He said as he took it.

"Thanks." Aria said as she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ezra asked.

"I have to straighten myself up before everyone else gets here." Aria said as she ridded her face of more tears.

Her cheeks were red from all tears she had to rub off.

Ezra nodded. "Okay."

Aria turned towards the stairs, but she heard a loud knock at the door.

"Looks like someone's already here." He said as he got up and opened the door.

"Great." Aria whispered sarcastically as she turned around and looked at the door.

She took a deep breath as she prepared for Ezra to open the door.

Then he did.

* * *

Hanna and Caleb were the last ones to get to Aria's house.

Normally, Hanna would have said that they were "Fashionibly late." But they were actually late because it took forever for Hanna to muster up the courage to get in the car.

Hanna and Caleb walked through the house as they made their way to the main room where everyone else was.

When they got there, everyone in the crowded room stared up at the couple.

Hanna froze up. She didn't know what to do.

"This surely is a blast from the past." Hanna said as she looked around the room.

"Because we're in my old house or because were discussing A?" Aria asked.

Hanna froze up again.

She didn't answer but she awkwardly made her way to the couch. She plopped down next to Spencer and Toby while Caleb sat on the arm rest.

"Is everyone here?" Spencer asked with a scratchy voice.

Aria nodded.

Hanna looked around the room at everyone. They all looked _terrible._ They all had puffy eyes and red cheeks, and that was completely understandable.

Hanna had all those things too.

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking slightly.

Nobody spoke. It was silent in the room.

"Can we please say something?" Caleb said loudly.

Hanna looked up. Her husband's lower lip was starting to quiver.

"We know their gone, and we know A took them. So what are we going to do to help them?" He finished with a low voice.

"We have to figure out who this new A is." Alison said from across the room. "Then we have to…"

"Have to what?" Hanna asked.

"We have to get rid of them." Alison finished.

"Are you implying we kill them?" Spencer asked in an angry tone.

"No!" Alison said abruptly. "I wasn't saying that at all, I just think that-"

"I think you were." Spencer interrupted. "We've done enough illegal stuff because of you, Alison, and we're certainly not going to kill anyone."

"Hey!" Emily yelled. "Lay off."

Spencer rolled her eyes.

Hanna looked at Spencer and then at Emily and Alison. Were they really arguing right now? Yeah, this was a pretty stressful situation, but arguing isn't the solution.

"Okay, we aren't going to kill A, but we do need to get rid of them." Hanna said, trying to get the attention away from Emily, Alison and Spencer.

"How?" Aria squeaked.

"I don't know. Send them off to jail, something. They kidnapped our kids, that has to be enough." Hanna said, looking around the room.

"We'll need evidence." Mona said. She was standing in the doorway to the main room with Mike standing behind her.

Caleb stood up and pointed at Mona.

"Who the hell invited her?" He said angrily.

"I did." Aria said strongly.

"Why? She's not going to help. If you didn't forget, she was once A and she never stopped her wicked ways." He yelled. A tear ran down his face.

Hanna reached up and grabbed his arm sleeve and tugged on it. She couldn't believe him right now.

"Oh, sit down, Caleb." Mona said, walking into the room. "I'm Rose's aunt, did you forget that? I want her and the others back just as much as you all do."

She sat down on an empty chair in the corner while Mike stood next to it. He glared at Caleb and Hanna felt her cheeks get hot. She was embarrassed.

"No, I didn't forget. Just like how I didn't forget how you ran over Hanna." He said, still sitting up.

"That was years ago." Mike said, backing up his wife.

"Mike, stay out." Aria said.

"No, I won't, Aria. You can't treat me like a child anymore." He said back.

"Can you guys stop!" Hanna said. She was on her feet now.

Everyone stared at her.

"Our kids are gone! A has them and all you can do is argue. Can we stop acting like teenagers and be the parents we actually are?" She finished strong.

It was silent for a while.

"I agree." Toby said from behind Hanna.

She turned around and mouthed "thank you" to him. He nodded in response.

Caleb, Mike, Mona and Aria all had red cheeks, but they stayed quiet.

Hanna grabbed Caleb's hand and made him sit down next to her.

As she sat down, Hanna actually felt good. She could keep the group in check. She was like the glue.

But then she remembered why they were all here in the first place.

Suddenly, she felt sad again.

She took a deep breath and kept a straight face.

She was the glue, and she had to be strong for everyone else.

* * *

After all the arguing that had just happened, Spencer felt like she should take control.

She stood up and stood in the middle of the room. She turned to Mona.

"You said that we would need evidence?" Spencer asked.

Mona looked up with red cheeks. She was probably surprised someone was talking to her.

"Yeah." She said after a few seconds. "We can get A in jail for kidnapping easily, but if we want the police to give them a stronger sentence, we have to have proof that their a stalker too."

Spencer turned around and looked at her husband.

"Is that true?" She asked.

He nodded his head. "Sadly, yes."

Spencer turned back to Mona. "Well what can we get as evidence?"

Mona lifted her shoulders up. "No clue."

Hanna stood up and stood next to Spencer.

"The lair." She said excitedly.

"Lair?" Spencer asked. "What lair?"

"Caleb and I went to visit Kara the day Zoe, Rose and Anna disappeared. She said that the evidence to get her out was in A's lair. She said that there were security camera's with footage of every corner of Rosewood, and there was footage of A murdering Zak. If we can do that, we can get A in jail for murder, kidnapping, and stalking." Hanna said strongly.

Spencer turned to Mona.

"Is that enough?" Spencer asked.

Mona nodded. "It's more than enough."

Spencer turned back to Hanna. "Did Kara mention where this lair was?"

"Yeah, she said it was in the abandoned costume shop across from the park."

"Someone should go there right now before A deletes everything." Emily said.

"Good point." Spencer turned to Hanna. "You wanna come with me, Han? Bring back some Spanna action?"

Hanna smiled. "Let's go."

Spencer grabbed her purse but before she could leave, Toby grabbed her hand.

"I should come with you." He said.

"No, the less the better." Spencer answered. "We'll be fast." She then pecked a kiss on Toby's lips.

He smiled and let go of Spencer's hand.

"Be safe." Caleb said to both Hanna and Spencer.

"We will." Hanna said, walking towards the door.

Spencer followed.

Hanna opened the door, and Spencer jumped back when she saw someone on the other side.

Actually, there were two someone's.

"Dylan?" Spencer asked.

"Owen?" Hanna asked also.

"Hi." Owen said awkwardly.

Dylan leaned in and looked at everyone in the house. "Good, you're all here." He said.

Spencer put her hand out to block them.

"What are you two doing here?" Spencer asked.

"We have information." Owen said.

"What kind of information?" Hanna asked.

"Information about what happened to your daughters."

Spencer and Hanna both stepped aside.

"Get in." They said at the same time.

They walked in and stood in the middle of the room. All the parents glared at the boys.

"What do you think they know?" Hanna asked.

Spencer sighed. "We're about to find out."

She then walked back to the group.

* * *

Emily stared at the boys in confusion.

"Who are they?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter." The scrawny kid said. "All you need to know is that we can help."

Spencer and Hanna walked back to the room and stood behind the two girls.

"How, Owen?" Hanna asked.

"When Kara was in jail, she used her one phone call on me and she told me her plan." Owen said.

"What plan?" Caleb asked.

Owen turned to look at him.

"She said that they girls _had_ to get taken. It was the only way that they can be free."

"What the hell does that mean?" Emily asked, looking at Owen with a confused look.

Owen shook his head. "I don't know. I thought she was crazy, but she said that them getting taken can expose A. She said she had a plan but she never told me the full thing. All she told me was that I needed to make sure all of them had A's trackers in them. I went to the others and told them how Kara said they all to be taken and Anna had to have the tracker put in her, and they didn't agree at first, but I was able to convince Rose and she got the others in on it. And that was the last I saw of them.

Emily took a deep breath. "Trackers?"

"A put trackers in them?" Aria whimpered.

"Yes. They knew that if they all had the trackers, A would take them and they could go through with the plan." Owen said.

The room was silent.

"So they wanted to be taken?" Alison asked from next to Emily.

Owen nodded his head. "Kara said it would get her out of jail and A in it."

Emily brought her hand to her mouth and she started to bite her nails.

Zoe went along with it? Did they have a strict plan and was it going their way?

"And what do you have to do with this, Dylan?" Toby asked the other boy.

"I ran into Anna right before they got captured." He said in a low voice.

Emily's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you stop them?"

"Anna was only supposed to get the tracker in her neck. It wasn't their plan to get taken. They still had so much they had to do, including coming up with an escape plan. Anna told me she was scared and she knew the plan was bad, but it was the only thing the girls could come up with. I reluctantly let her go into the lair and I sat there for hours and I never saw her come out." Dylan said. His voice cracked on his last sentence. "I should have never let her go in."

"So this plan. Is it going to work?" Ezra asked.

"We don't know. They weren't supposed to get taken so early, so they didn't really have a full plan." Owen said.

"We need to get them out." Emily said as she rubbed her face. "A is ruthless and will do whatever they want to them."

"I think we can all agree on that." Caleb said, his arms crossed.

Emily took a deep breath as her phone started to ring.

She flinched as it buzzed in her pocket. She hadn't gotten any calls since Zoe was taken.

She slowly reached her hand in her back pocket and brought out her phone.

She was hoping that the caller ID would say that it was Zoe calling, but of course, it didn't.

Emily looked at Alison, who gave her a concerned look.

"It's not her." Emily whispered to her wife. "It's Cory."

Alison's face flooded with disappointment. Emily gripped her hand and squeezed.

She then released Alison's hand as she got up and moved to another room.

She clicked the answer button and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?" Emily asked in a shaky voice.

"Mrs. DiLafields? Hi, it's Cory. Is Zoe home?" He said. He had a worried tone in his voice.

A tear ran down Emily's face as she exhaled a sharp breath.

"Um, no." She said. A small sob escaped her lips.

"Where, is she? Is she okay?" He asked, sounding even more worried.

"I don't know where she is." Emily said, still crying. "I don't know where anyone is." Emily was full out crying now.

"Are you okay, Mrs. DiLafields?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"No, I'm not. Zoe's gone. She's been taken by A and I don't know how to save her." Emily said as she wiped some tears from her face.

"A has her?" Cory asked. He sounded heartbroken.

"Yeah." Emily squeaked.

It was silent on the other side of the phone.

"I'm going to help you find her." He said, his tone deep and serious.

"Cory, I don't want you to get into this." Emily said as gently as possible.

"Mrs. DiLafields, Zoe is my girlfriend and I love her. I'm going to help."

Emily was going to deny his help again, but then she remembered how much Emily wanted to find Alison when she was Cory's age.

She remembered how heartbroken she was when Emily was so close to Ali, but Spencer showed up and scared her and she ran away.

She remembered how mad she was at Spencer for ruining her one chance at bringing Ali back.

Emily remembered how happy she was when Alison finally came back.

And she remembered how when Emily was in the dollhouse, Alison did everything she could to get her and the others out. She remembered running into Alison's arms after she got out of there.

She remembered how much she needed her.

Emily took a deep breath and steadied her voice.

"Okay. You can help." Emily said calmly to Cory.

"I can?" He asked. He sounded kind of shocked.

"Yes." Emily said. "Do whatever you can, and when you figure something out, call me."

She then hung up.

She took another deep breath and walked back to the room.

Her eyes landed right in Alison.

"We should go to the lair and find where A keeps the tracker information and find out where they are." Ali suggested.

"A probably has all that stuff hidden away." Aria said.

"We have Caleb and Mona. They can do it." Alison said.

She turned her head back to Emily who was standing in the doorway.

Alison patted the seat next to her. Emily wiped away the stray tears and she walked to Alison.

She grabbed her hand and squeezed and didn't let go.

* * *

Mona nodded her head to what Alison said.

"That could maybe work." She said.

"But what if A removed their trackers since they have the girls now." Toby said.

Mona looked at his sad face. "It's work a shot." She said.

Mona turned and looked at Caleb, Hanna and Spencer.

"We should head down to the lair now and try to get everything done." Mona suggested.

They all nodded and got up from their seats.

As the four of them walked towards the front door, Mona turned around and looked at the rest of the group.

"Keep thinking of ways to find the girls." She said in a strict tone.

They all nodded and looked at each other like lost puppies.

Mona exhaled sharply as she left the house.

It made her sad seeing everyone like this. And Mona felt like it was partially her fault.

If she never started this A thing when she was her nerdy self, this new A wouldn't have used her idea.

Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily would have normal lives after the torture Mona put them through.

Mona shook it off as she walked to her car.

She felt like it was now her duty to save the girls.

"Get in." Mona said as she opened the door to her black Prius.

Everyone got in, but Spencer stayed out as she stared off into the distance.

"Spencer." Mona called. "Get it."

Spencer held her finger out to shush Mona.

"Hold on." She whispered.

"What?" Mona whispered back.

"There's someone crouching behind my car." Spencer whispered.

"Is it A?" Hanna asked from the back seat.

"I don't know." Spencer said as she squinted her eyes.

"Well if it is, I'm going to knock them out cold." Hanna said angrily as she got out of the car and stormed towards Spencer's.

"Hanna!" Mona and Caleb called out at the same time.

The three of the followed Hanna as she marched over to the car.

Hanna took off her heel and held it high above her head as she stood on the opposite side of the car as the unwelcomed guest.

"Hanna, you're not a ninja, put the heel down." Mona said as she reached out for the heel.

Hanna jumped out of Mona's reach.

"Come out now!" Hanna yelled, still with the heel above her head.

"Hanna, stop." Caleb scolded embarrassingly.

"You have three seconds before I go Jason Bourne on you!" She yelled.

"Oh my god." Caleb whimpered as he put a hand up to his forehead.

"Okay, okay! Just don't stab me!" A familiar voice said from behind the car.

"Brendon?" Spencer called from behind Mona.

Mona scrunched up her face at the figure.

"Hi, mom." Brendon's deep voice called out.

Spencer sighed. "Come here!" She scolded.

Brendon walked around the car with his head down and his cheeks red.

He walked up to his mom.

"Why are you here?" She said in a slightly angry tone.

"Anna's gone and I want to help find her." He said in a quiet tone.

Spencer shook her head. "No, this is really serious and dangerous and you can't be any part of it."

"I'm a lot stronger than you think I am!" He whined.

Caleb put a hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"We really need to go." He said to her.

Spencer nodded. "Just go inside to your father."

"No, I can help. I know stuff about A!" Brendon yelled.

Mona crossed her arms. "What kind of stuff?"

"I know stuff about the lair that can really help you out." He said with a smirk.

Mona turned to Spencer. "He can be useful."

"No, he isn't." Spencer scolded Mona.

"Come on, I've been there before! I know the whole set up. I can show you all the tracker information!"

"How do you even know what we're doing?" Hanna asked with her heel now back on her foot.

"I heard you through the window." He said as he pointed to the window looking into the main room where everybody was.

Spencer sighed. "You said you've been there before?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"I was with Anna."

Spencer stared at her son with a blank look. "I guess you guys got your sneaking out skills from me."

Mona tapped her foot impatiently. Her kid wasn't even captured by A and she was worried sick for everyone else's kid and they were arguing about receiving help?

Mona locked eyes with the kid.

"You're coming." She said. "Come on."

"Mona, he's not your kid." Spencer said.

"Yeah but mine isn't taken by A either so we need to hurry up because the faster we get to the lair, the faster we can save Anna and the others."

Spencer gave Mona the death stare.

Sure, what she said was a little harsh but it was what needed to be said.

Spencer stared at Brendon. "Come on."

A small smile grew across his face.

He hopped in the back with Hanna and Caleb while Mona drove and Spencer sat in the passenger's seat.

They drove to the abandoned costume shop in silence as the sun set, and by the time they got there, the sky was pitch black.

"Okay so where is it?" Mona asked when they were all out of the car.

"Inside you'll see a long cord, follow it. It'll lead you down some stairs and into the lair, but be careful. A is pretty sneaky and they could be in there without you even knowing." Brendon instructed.

Mona nodded. She turned to the other three parents. "Let's go."

The four of them started to walk in, but Spencer but her arm out to block Brendon.

"You're not going in." She said.

"But why?"

"Because we don't need you in there." Mona answered. "You can stay out here and keep watch. If you see anything, scream."

Brendon nodded his head. He looked sad, but also satisfied that he was helping.

Mona turned to the others. "Come on."

Then, the four of them walked inside.

* * *

 **AN: TADAAAAA**

 **That's all of it!**

 **You'll figure out if the parent's plan was successful or not later :)**

 **The reason why I posted a day early is because I leave tomorrow morning for a girls weekend up at my friends cottage, so yeah, I gifted you! Lol.**

 **I'll see you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	47. Trust

**AN: Hi again!**

 **I don't really have anything to say so…**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

When Kara's eye's finally opened, she felt like she could throw up.

In fact, it felt like she already had five times.

Her overall body felt terrible. Her body ached, her throat was sore, her head was pounding and she was still tipsy off the gas A had drugged her with.

Kara put all the pain aside as she focused on where she was.

Her head was droopy and she was sitting down and she felt like her arms were strapped to something.

She used all of her might to lift her head up and when she finally did, she wished she hadn't.

She was indeed strapped to something and she was facing out, but all she saw was horror.

She was strapped to something that was in the middle of a large cage, and on the outside, all she saw was dark cement flooring and walls.

Her jaw dropped when she saw what was next to her.

To her left was Zoe, strapped down, and to her right, Rose, also strapped down.

Kara used her elbow to nudge Zoe a little.

"Zoe." Kara whisper-yelled. "Zoe, wake up!"

Kara saw as Zoe slowly opened her eyes.

"What…Kara…wait…what the…Kara, where are we?" Zoe stuttered as she looked around.

"I don't know." She answered. She shook her arms hoping that the straps holding would give out, but the only thing it did was give her rug burn on her wrists.

"Anna, wake up!" Zoe yelled to Anna.

Anna was behind Kara, so she couldn't see her, but she heard her moans and groans as she woke up.

"What now?" She groaned sarcastically.

Kara lifted her shoulders up. "No idea."

She turned to Rose and nudged her.

"Rose!" She called. "Wake up." She heard Rose groan.

"Come on, sleeping beauty, wake up." Kara said as she elbowed her a little bit harder.

Rose groaned again as she lifted her head up fully.

"What the…?" Rose said as she looked around. "Oh god, now what?"

Kara looked around her again. All she saw was the cage and the walls. She looked down at her feet, and she saw that they were free. There was nothing binding them together.

"Guys!" Anna called. "There's a door."

Kara tried to turn her neck to see Anna behind her, but unfortunately, her neck didn't turn that far.

"A door?" Kara said as she looked straight ahead.

"Yeah, its outside the cage, but its closed." Anna answered.

"How do we get out of here?" Zoe said as she shook her wrists, but just like Kara, nothing happened.

The lights turned on unexpectedly, and Kara squinted as her eyes adjusted.

When they did, Kara could see a little bit more. Under her feet, there was something sticking out of this thing they were on. It looked like a metal pole.

Just as Kara opened her mouth to say something about it, another voice boomed throughout the room.

"Hi, again." Chelsey said from behind Kara.

"Go to hell." Anna said angrily.

"Been there, done that." Chelsey said bitterly.

"Let us out." Zoe squeaked.

"What fun is that?" Chelsey chuckled.

The sound of the door opening sounded, and Kara felt her muscles tighten.

"What did I miss?" A male voice asked. Kara recognized it as Daniel.

"Nothing. We haven't even started yet." Chelsey answered.

"What's going on?!" Rose yelled.

"I warned you all to stuff yourselves, because it might be a while before you ate again, well now were going to see who gets to eat this week and who doesn't." Chelsey said.

"What does that even mean?" Kara called out.

Chelsey laughed, and Kara heard her footsteps echo throughout the room.

Chelsey was now in Kara's vision.

"I'm saying that were going to play a little game." She said with a sinister smile. She crouched down and put her hands on the outside of the cage. "The carousel you're on is going to spin you all around and stop randomly on one of you lucky bitches. If it does, you'll get branded. When this is all over, three of you will have a little message burned into your skin, and one won't. Whoever doesn't get branded has to starve for a week and they'll get a little surprise, but I'll get into that later."

Daniel stood next to Chelsey and they both sent sinister stares over to Kara.

"You guys are disgusting." Kara said.

"Thank you!" Daniel said sincerely as he put a hand over his heart.

Kara took a deep breath in. She tried to keep her anger inside. She knew that if she acted out, A would punish her, but this crossed the line.

Kara lifted her chin up for accuracy and she spit out a big blob of her DNA onto Chelsey's face.

"Ugh!" Chelsey yelled as she wiped the spit off her face.

"You bitch!" Daniel yelled as he let Chelsey wipe her face on his shirt.

"Thank you!" Kara said, mocking Daniel.

Kara heard Zoe giggle.

"Start it up." Chelsey said angrily as she stood up.

"A didn't tell us to yet." Daniel said.

"I don't care, start the damn thing up!" Chelsey yelled as she stomped out of Kara's sight.

Daniel followed behind her. "What if A-"

"I don't care about her right now!" Chelsey yelled. "I just want these bitches to suffer."

Her.

Chelsey said 'her.'

That meant A was a girl.

Kara felt herself smile. They were one step closer to figuring out who A was.

Kara felt the carousel start to jerk around and then it started to spin.

It spun around a few times, and every time she passed Chelsey and Daniel, she made eye contact.

The carousel started to slow down and it came at a complete stop.

She looked around and saw as a hot pipe descended from the ceiling right above Rose's head.

"Oh my god." Rose muttered as she tried to get out of the restraints, but she didn't move.

The pipe came down lower and lower until it was just above Rose's right hand.

"Congratulations, Rose." Chelsey said. "You get to eat."

The pipe came down and Rose tried her best to move her hand out of the way, but the pipe came down and pinned her hand down.

"AHHH!" Rose yelled as the hot pipe pressed down into her skin.

Kara could hear the sizzle of Rose's skin, and she smelt burning flesh.

Rose continued to scream as the pipe pushed further into her skin.

"Stay still, Rose." Anna yelled to Rose's squirming self. "It hurts less if you're still."

Rose stopped squirming and the pipe lifted up shortly after that. She sobbed in pain as the carousel started to spin again.

"This is crazy." Kara said as she pinched her eyes closed. She was started to get motion sickness.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Zoe asked.

Kara heard Rose sob before she said, "I'm fine."

The thing started to slow down again and Kara's stomach tightened.

Kara was getting close to the spot and she was actually terrified for it to stop on her, but at the same time, she wanted it to.

Would she rather starve for a week, or face extreme pain for ten seconds?

It's not like she had a choice.

The carousal finally stopped and Kara hesitated as she looked up. She blew out a breath of relief as she saw that the pipe wasn't above her head.

She searched for it and when she found it, she saw that it was above Zoe.

"Shit!" Zoe yelled as she struggled against the restraints.

"Congratulations, Zoe." Daniel said. He pushed a button and the pipe started to descend.

Kara pinched her eyes closed as she listened to Zoe scream.

"You're monsters! Finding pleasure in others people's pain is _disgusting_!" Zoe yelled.

"Cheating your way out of a broken leg with steroids is disgusting." Daniel said in a bitter tone.

The pipe came down on Zoe's hand right as she screamed, "I didn't have a choice!"

All Kara wanted to do was bust out of these chains, and when she did, she would beat the living crap out of Chelsey and Daniel. How could they agree to do A's bidding? Did they have any human decency in them at all?

Kara opened her eyes and stupidly looked over at Zoe's hand. The pipe was still pressed against her skin and she was still screaming out in pain.

The pipe lifted from Zoe's hand and ascended back to the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked Zoe.

Zoe grunted. "No."

"It's over now so try to-" Kara didn't get to finish. The carousel started to move again and she had to keep her mouth closed or she's puke.

As they were spinning, Kara realized that she and Anna were left. So, Kara would either get branded, or she would starve. She didn't know which was better.

The wheel started to slow down and Kara pinched her eyes shut. She didn't really know what else to do.

"Kara!" Anna yelled.

"Yeah?" She called back over the groans and sobs of Zoe and Rose.

"If I get branded, there's no hard feelings, right?"

Kara actually laughed. Anna's biggest fear right now was losing Kara's friendship?

"No, Anna. No hard feelings." Kara replied, still with her eyes closed.

The carousel stopped spinning and Kara was scared to open her eyes. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see the pipe above her head or not.

"Congratulations, Kara."

Kara opened her eyes at the sound of Chelsey's voice.

She looked up at the ceiling and saw the pipe above her head. Kara took a deep breath.

"Sorry, Anna." Kara said as the pipe started to descend.

Anna didn't say anything, she just sighed.

The pipe was inches from Kara's hand, but she didn't look at it. She locked her gaze with Chelsey and occasionally switched it over to Daniel.

The pipe pressed down into Kara's hand, but she didn't scream.

It was the most painful thing she had ever felt, but she wouldn't let Chelsey, Daniel and most importantly, A, know that they were breaking her.

Kara held her breath as the pipe pressed further down into her skin and burned away at her flesh. She locked eyes with Chelsey and she could have sworn she saw fear in her eyes.

All Kara wanted to do was scream, but she was actually getting to A's little helpers, so to make the situation even more twisted, Kara smiled.

She smiled a genuine smile, because she knew that she could finally get some leverage against A.

After what felt like forever, the pipe disconnected itself from Kara's hand and ascended back to the ceiling.

With a smug look on her face, Chelsey stepped away from the cage and headed to the door with Daniel close behind her.

"Hey!" Zoe yelled as they walked away. "How do we get out?"

"You'll have to figure that out on your own." Chelsey yelled as she closed the door. Then they were gone.

The carousel moved slowly and stopped when the girls were in their original positions.

Kara looked down at her burned hand. Her perfect skin was now replaced with a simple word.

"Bitch." She read aloud in a whisper.

Kara looked away from her ugly hand and out at the wall.

That's when a memory hit her. There was a pipe under the carousel that could probably get them out.

Kara dropped her head down and saw the pipe peeking out from under the machine.

"Yes!" She grunted as she used her feet to reach for the pipe.

"What are you yessing for?" Rose asked.

"There's something under the carousel that can probably get us out." Kara answered as she used her feet to grab the pipe.

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"A pipe or something." Kara said. She had the pipe in-between her feet but it slipped out rolled out of reach under the carousel. "Dammit." She yelled.

"What?" Zoe asked in a high-pitched, worried tone.

"I dropped it." Kara said in a low voice.

She heard everyone sigh.

"Is there another way out?" Rose asked.

"Who knows?" Kara said as she dropped her head down.

"Wait, I think I see it." Anna grunted.

Kara flung her head back up. "What?"

"There's a metal pipe." Anna said. There was a metal _thunk_ and she said, "I can reach it!"

Kara smiled as she heard Anna grab the pipe with her feet.

"Got it!" She said victoriously.

Zoe, Rose and Kara all congratulated Anna as she received the pipe.

"What's on it?" Kara asked.

"Keys." Anna replied but with a sad voice.

"What's wrong?"

"There's only three keys."

A static sound emerged through the room and Kara looked up at a speaker that was in the corner.

"I see you've found the pipe." Chelsey said with an obnoxiously cheery voice. "As you can see, there are only three keys, so that means that one of you will have to stay behind."

"Screw that!" Zoe yelled. "No one's getting left behind!"

"Oh shut up, Zoe, and let me finish!" Chelsey scolded.

Everyone was silent.

"In five minutes, a gas will leak into this room and knock you all unconscious. When you wake, you'll find yourself in a trap far worse than the one you're all in now. But, three of you can get out and safly return to your rooms and only one will have to endure what A has planned."

"I can't stand her." Kara grunted.

"Rude." Chelsey said back. "You're time starts now."

A red light appeared in the room, and when Kara looked at it, she saw that is was a timer counting down from five minutes.

"Oh god, she was serious." Rose gaped.

"Who's staying back?" Zoe asked with a worried tone.

"No one is." Kara said. "We'll find a way."

"We have less than five minutes, Kara; one of us has to stay back." Anna said.

"You heard what Chelsey said, one of us will 'find ourselves in a trap far worse than the one you're all in.'" Kara said.

"I know, what she said. I also heard that all four of us will go through that or only one can." Anna said in a low voice. "And I'll be that one."

"NO!" Kara, Zoe and Rose yelled at the same time.

"You three all just got your skin burnt off. You need a break so please don't fight me on this!" Anna yelled.

"Anna, you have to starve, and if you go through with this suicide plan, you'll go through a lot worse than being branded." Rose yelled.

"We have three minutes left, and we don't know how to get the fourth girl out, so you're letting me stay." Anna said.

Kara heard some jingling as Anna grabbed one of the keys.

"Don't you dare!" Zoe yelled.

Kara heard some fussing but she eventually head a click and footsteps.

"I can't believe how stupid you are." Zoe said to Anna as she walked over to Kara.

Kara looked at Zoe's hand and saw a key.

"I don't want to be let out." Kara said to Zoe.

Zoe bent down and stuck the key into the lock on Kara's chains.

"We can't have both you _and_ Anna be martyrs, Kara." Zoe said. The chains fell to the floor and Kara stood up feeling guilty.

She felt guilty that they were leaving Anna behind. What if this thing that A was going to do would kill her?

Kara walked over to Anna and saw that Rose was out standing in front of her too.

"You're crazy." Kara said as she looked at Anna, still chained up.

"I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid." Anna said with a smirk.

"No, you're crazy _and_ stupid." Kara said. She felt her eyes begin to water.

"No, stupid is letting you all go through this torture when the crazy one can take the pain."

A tear fell down Kara's face. "You're ridiculous."

Anna smiled. "Thanks."

Kara reached down and hugged Anna. Rose and Zoe soon joined in on the hug.

When the three broke apart, Anna stared at the three with wet eyes.

"I'll see you later." She said with a shaky voice.

Kara nodded and then looked at the timer.

"Come on." She said. "We have a minute."

Kara gave Anna one last smile and then walked out of the cage with Rose and Zoe right behind her.

They got to the door and when Kara opened it, she saw that it led to the room with a bunch of door and the hallways that led to the girl's cells.

Kara turned back and looked at Anna strapped down to the cage.

"Good luck." She yelled out.

"Good luck to you too." Anna yelled back.

Kara turned to Zoe and Rose. "Let's go." She said.

The three walked into the room of doors and Kara heard the door lock behind her.

Kara looked at the door and felt another tear fall down her face.

This feeling she felt right now was worse than when the pipe was burning into her skin.

This guilt was killing her.

And hopefully, this choice that they made wouldn't get Anna killed.

Kara took a deep breath as she walked down the hall to her cage.

"Good luck." She whispered to herself.

"What?" Rose asked from behind her.

"Nothing."

Then she stormed down the hallway.

* * *

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Anna pinched her eyes closed and waited for the gas to come, but none came.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Everything was the same.

"What?" She whispered to herself. She tugged at her restraints and nothing happened.

Was this the so called "trap"? Was she going to have to sit on the carousel and starve for the week?

"Is this it?" She called out. "How threatening."

In a fragment of a second, a gas hissed through the vents.

Anna immediately started to cough. She didn't try to hold her breath to prevent her from passing out because she knew she would anyways. Also, the faster she got off this stupid machine, the better.

She took a big gulp of air and seconds later, she was at the point where she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Her head flopped down at the same time the gas stopped coming through the vents.

The door opened, and Anna tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't.

Footsteps approached and she heard the squeak of the cage door opening. Then more footsteps and then hands were on Anna's.

The mystery person undid Anna's chains and she felt herself fall and crash onto the ground.

She felt no pain. This gas that Anna inhaled blocked all that off.

She felt the hands pick her up and she flopped in their arms. She tried again to open her eyes, but she was unsuccessful.

She kept still as the person continued to carry her. The person stopped and changed Anna into a different position. Instead of Anna being in their arms, she was now over their shoulder.

She figured that now would be a good time to open her eyes and see who was carrying her, but her body wouldn't allow it.

Anna heard a click and then the sound of a door opening. There were footsteps, and then the person dropped Anna on the floor.

There was silence and it was killing her. The worst feeling was not being in control, and the fact that Anna was fully aware of what was going on, but had no control over her body was driving her insane.

She laid there and feared what was going to happen next. What was this person going to do to her?

She felt something in her face. It felt like leather. Then, there was a force on her eyes.

Someone opened them.

Anna's eyes adjusted to the dark room and she focused on the figure in front of her.

Lo and behold, it was A.

Anna hadn't seen them since she threatened to kill them. She hadn't pictured their next meeting to be anything like this.

A looked down at Anna, and she tried to open her mouth to scream at them, but yet again, her body wouldn't respond.

A started down at her, and she could feel their eyes piercing her through the mask.

A reached in her pocket and pulled something out.

Anna's vision was a little blurry, but she recognized it as a phone. A bent down and moved Anna's limbs around. They put her left arm on her stomach and they bent her legs, and they grabbed Anna's chin and tilted it to the side.

They were making it looked like she was dead.

A took the phone and pointed it at Anna. The flash went off and then A looked at the phone. They nodded a satisfied nod and put the phone away.

A walked up to Anna and started to gently kick her. They kicked and kicked but Anna didn't respond.

They walked over to a desk and grabbed something. It wasn't until A crouched back down that Anna realized what it was.

A syringe.

Anna tried her best to get up and run away, but the only thing she managed to do was move her right big toe, and that was sure helpful.

A crouched down and adjusted Anna's head to side and moved her hair out of the way. They plunged the needle into her neck and she started to regain feeling almost immediately.

A backed away and moved over to a panel of blinking lights as Anna started to sit up.

"You asshole." Anna said as she wobbled over to them.

A turned to look at Anna as she lifted a fist to punch A in the face, but they lifted up their hand and signaled for Anna to stop. They pointed the finger to the side of them and Anna looked in that direction.

It was a window that looked out into a large room. The room had four cages, two on each side.

She saw that three of them were open and one was closed.

She saw Zoe, Kara and Rose's concerned faces.

Anna looked at A and said, "So this is where you stalk us?"

A slowly nodded their head.

She turned away from the window and stared at A.

"So why did you take me up here? Chelsey said you were going to do something, so do it." Anna said in a threatening tone.

A reached out and grabbed Anna by the throat and she jumped in surprise.

A squeezed to the point where Anna was gasping for air, but they didn't squeeze hard enough to kill her.

She felt herself get limp as A turned her around and laid her face-down on the ground. A then sat on her. She gasped for air as A grabbed something.

Anna tried to turn her head to see what they grabbed, but they took their hand and forced Anna's head to stare at the ground.

"What are you…?" She started, but she stopped when she felt something pierce her neck.

She screamed as A dug into her neck and scraped around.

"Stop!" She yelled. "Please stop!"

But A didn't, and she continued to scream out in pain.

She finally felt A stop and they removed something from Anna's neck.

They got off of Anna and she stood up and felt the back of her neck. She winced in pain when her fingers touched her wound.

"What did you do?" Anna asked with tears still running down her face.

She watched as A set something down on the desk. It was blinking red, and Anna recognized it as the tracker.

A turned to Anna with a rag in their hand. They spun their pointer finger and signaled for Anna to turn around.

She reluctantly did and she flinched when she felt A's gloved finger. She tightened her muscles as A bandaged up her neck.

"What did you do that for?" She asked as she looked at the tracker.

A didn't answer of course, they just started to press buttons on the control panel.

Anna stared at A, and that's when she remembered what Chelsey said:

"I don't care about her right now! I just want these bitches to suffer."

Her.

She had slipped.

She looked at A up and down. She did now realize that A _did_ have a feminine body.

"I know you're a girl." She said confidently.

A turned to her and chuckled.

"Congratulations, you figured me out." A said in a low voice.

Anna's jaw dropped.

A spoke.

A's voice was definitely female, and she had definitely heard it before, but whose was it?

"You spoke." Anna said with her jaw still open.

"Don't get used to it."

"You spoke again!" Anna said, almost too excited.

A chuckled and pressed a button on the control panel and a quite ringing sounded.

Chelsey opened the door in seconds.

"Yes?" She asked.

A stared.

"Are we doing it now?" Chelsey asked in a cheery voice.

A nodded.

Anna stared at Chelsey with a disgusted look. Her eyes darted over to Anna for a second, but she brought her look back to A.

"Okay." Chelsey said. She walked further into the room and she passed Anna.

As she walked past, Anna noticed a bruise on the side of her face.

"Did she give you that?" Anna asked as Chelsey continued to walk.

"What?" She asked as she crouched down and opened up a box.

"That bruise. Did A give it to you for slipping up about her?" Anna said.

Chelsey stood up with some weird metal contraption in her hand.

"I deserved it." She said. She avoided eye contact with Anna.

Anna turned to A. "I think she deserved it too."

A's hand connected with the left side of Anna's face not long after she finished that sentence.

Anna reached her left hand up and held her face.

"What the hell?" Anna yelled as she stared at A.

A stared back, saying and doing nothing.

Then Anna heard a _click_ and then something was weighing her right hand down.

She looked down at her hand and saw the metal thing Chelsey was holding was now on her hand.

The thing strapped around her wrist and hooked around her ring finger.

"What is this?" Anna asked as she looked down at it.

Chelsey grabbed Anna's shoulders and directed her towards the control panel.

"If a gun was pointed at you and another were pointed at, let's say, Rose, and one _had_ to be shot, would you plead for your life or allow yourself to get shot for Rose's safety?"

"I'd let myself get shot." Anna said with no hesitation.

Chelsey nodded. "Do you think they would do the same for you?"

"Of course."

"I'm not so sure about that." Chelsey said in a mocking tone.

"What do you mean?" Anna said through gritted teeth.

"I think that they all care about their safety and their safety only."

"We would all do anything to make sure another was safe." Anna said.

"But they left you in that carousel to get gassed." Chelsey said as she walked around Anna.

"There were only three keys and I volunteered." Anna said as she kept her gaze on Chelsey.

She laughed. "If your friends would have calmed down and didn't worry about getting themselves out before the timer went off, they would have realized that one key fit all the locks."

"What?" Anna asked, her voice beginning to shake.

"All four of you could have gotten out and if your minds weren't so focused on getting yourselves out, you would have realized." Chelsey said in a snooty tone.

Anna took a deep breath in. "They were too scared to think straight."

"They didn't care enough to think straight." Chelsey said in a strong voice.

Anna kept her mouth shut. Chelsey was trying to get inside her head and turn her against her friends.

She wouldn't let that happen.

"You have a chance to get revenge." Chelsey said. She nodded at the control button. "With a push of a button, you can give them immense pain."

"I'm not going to hurt them." Anna said sternly.

Chelsey ignored her. "If you press that big red button, you'll send an agonizing shock through them that lasts for ten seconds."

"I'm not hurting them." Anna said again, but Chelsey ignored her.

Anna looked behind her and saw A watching from the corner.

"I won't." She said to A.

"Look." Chelsey said.

Anna turned her head to look at Chelsey and she was looking down at Anna's old tracker.

"Could you press the button for me?" Chelsey asked sweetly. It was disgusting.

"No."

"Press the damn button." Chelsey said a little less nicely.

Anna rolled her eyes and she pressed the red button in the middle of all the other ones.

She heard a loud sizzle and she saw the tracker shaking around table and it started to smoke.

"When you press that button that will happen, except it will happen inside them." Chelsey said.

"I'm not doing it." Anna said strongly.

"Oh, but you will, because if you don't, that thing on your hand will bend your finger back until the bone cracks in half." Chelsey said sinisterly.

Anna looked down at her metal hand. She tried to rip it off, but it wouldn't budge.

Chelsey pointed out towards the window. "Look at them talking as if your there. They don't even care that you're gone."

Anna looked and saw them chatting as if it was a normal day.

I didn't matter, they were still her friends, and they were in this together.

"Make your choice." Chelsey said as she pressed a button.

Anna felt the thing on her hand start to bend back.

"Wait!" Anna yelled as she grabbed the thing in an attempt to stop it from moving, but it wouldn't.

"First up is Kara. She should take the shock pretty well, she _was_ in jail." Chelsey said as she stared out the window.

Anna looked out and saw Kara's innocent face.

"No." Anna said. "I'm not doing it."

"Have fun with a broken finger." Chelsey said smiling.

The thing continued to bend back and it was now at the point where it was starting to hurt.

Anna grunted as she watched the thing bend her finger back.

"Ow!" She screamed.

"It can end if you press the button." Chelsey said.

The thing bent her finger, and Anna tried her best to fight it, but she couldn't.

"Fuck you!" Anna yelled as she pressed the button.

The machine stopped bending her finger back and Anna closed her eyes as she heard Kara's agonizing screams through the window.

She covered her ears but she could still hear the screams.

"I'm sorry!" Anna yelled even though she knew Kara couldn't hear her.

Anna opened her eyes and saw Kara screaming and crouched on the ground, she occasionally flinched. When Kara lifted her head up, Anna saw tears running down her face, and when she turned her head, Anna saw blood running down her neck.

"Okay, I did it, now take this thing off!" Anna yelled as she shoved her trapped hand into Chelsey's face.

"Not yet." Chelsey said as she looked out the window in glee.

"What do you mean 'not yet'?"

You still have two more shocks to go." She said.

As if on cue, Kara stopped screaming and the finger piece started to bend back again.

Anna screamed in pain and anger.

"Rose is next." Chelsey said in monotone.

Anna looked out the window.

Kara was in the fetal position holding her neck while Zoe and Rose were looking terrified and yelling things out. Probably things like "What happened?" and "Are you okay?"

Anna felt and heard a pop and she screamed in more pain.

She looked down at her finger and saw that it was now dislocated.

"Just a few more seconds before it cracks." Chelsey said as she stared at Anna's finger.

"I'm going to kill you for this!" Anna yelled as she slammed her hand down on the button.

"I'm looking forward to it." Chelsey said with a smile.

Rose's screams sounded and Anna pinched her eyes closed again, but that didn't stop the guilt.

She kept her eyes closed, but that didn't stop her screams.

Anna counted to ten, and when she did, she heard Rose's screams stop.

She opened her eyes and saw Rose laying down face first with blood pouring out the back of her neck.

Anna shook her head. "Oh my god." She whimpered. "What am I doing?"

"You're saving yourself." Chelsey answered.

Anna put her free hand on her forehead to stop it from throbbing, but it didn't work.

"I'm such an idiot." She whispered to herself.

"You're actually quite smart. Why cause yourself pain when you can share it equally between three people?" Chelsey said.

"Can you shut up?!" Anna yelled.

Chelsey pursed her lips. "Next it Zoe."

Anna's finger started to move up again, but she didn't look away from Chelsey.

"I won't let you control me." Anna said in her strongest voice possible. It was shaky considering that her finger was about to crack in half.

"Oh snap." Chelsey said mockingly.

 _Snap!_

"AHH!" Anna screamed as her finger bent passed the point of no return.

She looked down at her finger bent in the most disgusting way possible.

Tear flooded down her face and she was in agonizing pain, but she felt good.

She didn't shock Zoe.

She didn't let Chelsey get to her this time.

"I'm disappointed." Chelsey said as she undid the contraption on Anna's hand. "You could be very useful with both of your hands."

Anna said nothing as Chelsey undid the machine. When it was off, Chelsey wrapped her finger up and set it with a cast.

Anna turned around and jumped when A was standing right next to her.

They reached their hand out and grabbed Anna's arm. They then forcefully dragged Anna out of the room and down a maze of hallways.

Anna paid attention to the hallways. When this was all over, Anna could come back and kill A.

And she meant that quite literally.

She was sick of their games.

A opened a door and handed Anna something.

She didn't have time to see what it was before A shoved her into the room and locked the door behind her.

She looked out and saw that she was in the main room.

In front of her were the four cages that Anna, Zoe, and Kara stayed in.

Anna's was closed, but the three others were open.

Anna sprinted to the cages. She had to see if Kara and Rose were okay.

When she got there, she stood in the middle of the four cages and did a 360 degree turn.

Zoe, Rose and Kara stared at her with tears in their eyes.

"Are you all okay?" Anna asked.

"Why are you holding that?" Zoe asked. She was looking down at Anna's hand.

Anna looked down and saw what she was holding.

It was a gun.

She looked back up at Zoe. "A gave it to me."

"You've been with A!" Rose yelled from behind Anna.

She turned around and saw Rose holding the back of her neck.

"She drugged me and forced me to do things." Anna said. She didn't want to tell them how it was her who shocked them.

"What happened to your finger?" Kara asked, her voice raspy.

"A broke it." Anna replied as she looked down at her finger. It was throbbing.

"Why?" Zoe asked.

Anna took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. She didn't want to make eye contact with them.

"I had to make a choice. Shock you all, or break my finger."

"Bitch." Kara yelled.

"I'm sorry!" Anna yelled, looking at her. "I didn't have a choice!"

"So you let us go through the feeling of being stabbed a thousand times to save your little finger?" Rose yelled.

"I wasn't thinking straight!" Anna yelled. "And I didn't want to do it so I stopped before Zoe could get shocked and my finger snapped."

"We don't care!" Kara yelled. "You traitor."

Anna shook her head. "No, I'm not a traitor!"

"We would have been fine with A doing this to us because that's just what they do, but you?" Rose said.

"But I didn't let Zoe get shocked!" Anna yelled. It was the only thing she could think of saying.

"Don't bring me into this." Zoe said.

Anna took deep breaths. It was getting hard for her to breath.

"I didn't have a choice." She whispered.

"What did A send you in to do now?" Kara asked. "Shoot us?"

"I don't know." Anna answered. "They locked me in here with the gun."

"You have to shoot one, idiot." Chelsey's voice came on over the speakers.

"What?" Anna yelled back.

"Either you shoot someone, or we send that picture of you to the police and tell them to stop looking because you're all dead anyways." Chelsey said.

Anna then remembered the picture A took of her.

If her parents saw that picture, they would be devastated and quit their search, then there really would be no hope.

But there was no way Anna was going to betray her friends even more by shooting one of them.

So what was she going to do to get herself out of this one?

"I'm not shooting anyone!" Anna yelled.

"Then I guess you'll all be stuck here together forever." Chelsey said.

Anna looked up at the window and saw Chelsey's smiling face.

Anna knew what she had to do.

"So if someone gets shot, you won't send the picture?" Anna called out.

"Exactly."

Anna took the gun and looked at Zoe, Rose and Kara.

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked, scared.

"I'm doing what A wants me to do." Anna answered.

She then took the gun and pointed it at herself.

She closed her eyes and she pressed the barrel at her shoulder. That was the best place to shoot without hitting anything important.

"Anna!" Rose yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Someone has to get shot!" Anna yelled with her eyes closed.

"Don't do it, Anna." Kara said in terror.

"I have to."

Anna turned towards the window and opened her eyes.

She looked Chelsey in the eye and counted to three.

1…

…2

…3.

 _BOOM!_

* * *

 ** _AN: Well..._**

 ** _So that chapter was probably one of my favorites to write!_**

 ** _And you got a clue on who A is. No one has been able to guess yet so keep it up ;)_**

 ** _Also, I got the carousel idea from Saw VI_**

 ** _I watched all the Saw movies the other day and I got really inspired so things might get a little more nasty._**

 ** _I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next week!_**

 ** _-Jessica_**


	48. Into the Unknown

**AN: Hi again!**

 **DreamGirl1314 followed and favorited. Thank you so much!**

 **I had a lot of fun writing last week's chapter, and in this one I'm going to try something a little different.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Rose watched as Anna's body fell to the floor.

"Anna!" Rose yelled with tears running down her face.

Her voice, along with everybody else's, were muffled by the ringing in her ears from the gunshot.

Rose looked at Anna's body with blurry vision as she shook the bars. They didn't budge.

As Rose took a deep breath in, she felt a shock run through her body.

She immediately let go of the bars and she watched as Kara and Zoe did the same, all three wincing in pain.

"Dammit!" Chelsey grunted through the speaker.

Rose looked up at the speaker and then back down at Anna.

"Anna, please get up." Rose whispered at Anna's body.

She didn't move.

Rose wiped her eyes free of tears as she stared at Anna's body.

"Oh my god." Zoe was whispering over and over again.

"Anna, get your ass up!" Kara was yelling.

Rose stared at Anna's body again, but this time, she didn't cry.

She noticed something strange about her body.

Anna shot herself in the shoulder, but there wasn't any blood.

"Anna?" Rose said to herself.

Rose studied her body and she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw her hand twitch a little bit.

Rose smiled.

"Anna!" She said cheerfully. "Anna, get up!"

But Anna didn't listen. She continued to stay down.

A door opened outside of the cage and Rose kept her mouth shut as footsteps approached Anna's body.

"You monster!" Zoe yelled to the footsteps.

"I'm going to kill you!" Kara grunted.

"You say that a lot, Kara, but I'm still here." Chelsey's snarky voice said.

Chelsey walked over to Anna's body and kicked it.

"Don't touch her!" Rose yelled.

She knew Anna was fine, but she didn't want Chelsey to look _too_ close. She was afraid that she would notice the fact that there was no blood, and that could lead to something _bad._

Chelsey looked up at Rose.

"What are you going to do?" Chelsey asked. "It's not like you can get out."

Rose gripped on the bars that were no longer electrified.

"I will get out someday, and when I do, you're going to regret everything you've done to us." Rose said confidently.

Chelsey continued to stare at Rose, and Rose felt her muscles tighten when she saw Anna open her eyes.

Anna brought a finger up to her mouth before anyone could do anything.

"Well, that day isn't today so guess what, Rosie? I can do whatever the hell to you and everyone else." Chelsey said angrily.

Rose looked back at Anna, who tilted her head to Rose and winked her eye. Rose knew what she had to do.

"Well what do you want to do to me?" Rose asked in a provocative tone.

Chelsey stared at Rose as if she was dinner. "I want to stab you over and over again and watch the life drain from your eyes, then; I'm going to drag you over to your parents and rub it in their faces and watch the despair on their faces. Only then will I finally feel good about myself."

Rose leaned her face against the bars.

" _Then do it."_

"Rose, what are you doing?" Zoe asked.

She ignored her.

Chelsey took a deep breath in and smiled. "Maybe I will."

"I don't see what's stopping you, you coward." Rose teased.

Chelsey continued to stare at Rose with a hunger in her eyes.

Rose took a step back from the bars and opened out her arms.

"Come at me, bitch!" She called out.

Chelsey exhaled a large breath and reached in her pocket as she charged at Rose.

"Come on, Anna." Rose whispered as Chelsey ran at Rose with a knife in her hand.

Rose closed her eyes as Chelsey neared the cage.

"Get away from her."

Rose opened her eyes to see Chelsey at the bars, and Anna standing behind her, pointing a gun at her back.

Rose smiled. "Oops."

Chelsey turned around and stared at Anna.

"How are you…?" Chelsey stammered.

"I knew you couldn't see very well from your little window, so I aimed a little higher than my shoulder." Anna gloated.

"But… you weren't breathing." Chelsey said in shock.

"Did you know I could hold my breath for two whole minutes?" Anna said with attitude.

Chelsey gripped the knife in her hand. "You bitch!" She yelled as she ran at Anna.

Anna cocked the gun and took a step back. "I wouldn't."

Chelsey stopped.

"Anna…" Kara said gently. "What are you doing?"

"You're going to let us go." Anna started. "And you're going to let us go home without an issue, and once we're there, you're not going to bother us."

Chelsey laughed. "And what if I don't?"

"Then I shoot."

"You're not going to shoot me." Chelsey said hysterically.

"Do you wanna bet?" Anna threatened.

"Anna, calm down." Zoe said.

Anna looked over at her. "Calm down? Do you know what she's done to me? You know what she made me do, well at least Kara and Rose do. She has put me through so much hell and I'm sick of it! I just want it all to end, and I'm afraid this is the only way."

"I know you, Anna, and I know that you won't be able to live with the guilt of killing someone." Chelsey said.

"You don't know anything about me." Anna said.

She lifted the gun up and aimed at Chelsey's chest.

"Anna, stop!" Rose yelled, but she was too late.

Anna pulled the trigger.

Rose closed her eyes as she heard the bullet connect with Chelsey.

A warm liquid flung on the upper half of Rose's body and she screamed when it hit her. She knew exactly what it was.

Rose breathed in and out as she heard Chelsey's body thump the floor.

There was a slight pause, and then Kara and Zoe started to scream.

Rose opened her eyes reluctantly and she looked down at her outfit.

She was covered in Chelsey's blood. Rose felt herself gag.

Rose looked up from her bloody body and looked up at Anna. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she wasn't prepared to see the smirk on Anna's face.

"Anna, what did you do?" Rose whimpered.

"I did what needed to be done." Anna said, still with the gun pointed up in the air.

Rose took a deep breath in. She was scared on what Anna was going to do next.

"Oh my god, you just killed someone." Zoe whimpered.

Anna looked at her. "It was either us or her."

"There had to have been some other way." Kara added.

Anna stared at Kara. "There wasn't." She said through gritted teeth.

Anna looked back at Rose. "Move."

"What?" Rose asked. She was terrified.

"Move!" Anna demanded.

Rose backed away from the cell bars as Anna requested. She watched Anna in fear as she lifted the gun towards the top of the cell and she jumped when she fired the gun.

Rose heard a buzz and then a click.

Anna walked up to the cage and grabbed it. She pulled it and the bars opened.

Rose stared at the opening with wide eyes. She walked towards it and Anna reluctantly.

"How did you…?" Rose murmered.

"There's locks at the top of the cage, now get out." Anna said, stepping aside.

Rose stepped out of the cage and looked around the room.

She looked up and saw a window high above the cages. Her stomach turned when she saw a figure standing in it.

"Anna!" Rose yelled as she smacked Anna on the arm and pointed.

"What?" Anna said as she looked to where Rose was pointing.

The two were speechless as they watched A glare down.

"What is it?" Kara asked frantically.

"You need to get Kara and Zoe out _now_." Rose said to Anna.

Anna nodded and rushed over to Kara's cage just as sirens wailed through the room.

Rose covered her ears and looked back up in the window and was scared to see that A was no longer there.

"Hurry up!" Rose yelled over the sirens.

Anna pointed the gun at the lock and shot, but this time, she missed.

She pulled the trigger again, but this time nothing happened. She did it again and again but no shots were fired.

"Crap!" Anna yelled as she opened up the barrel of the gun.

There were no bullets left.

Rose ran her hand through her hair as she looked into Kara, Zoe and Anna's worried faces.

The door opened and Rose looked over to see A and sprinting over to the girls.

"Go!" Anna yelled to Rose.

"No, I'm not going!" Rose yelled back.

"One of us has to get out and get help! I'll hold A off, just get out!"

Rose took a shaky breath as she looked at Zoe and Kara.

"Go!" Kara said.

"Get help, we'll be fine!" Zoe yelled.

Rose nodded as she looked for an opening. She saw that next to the cages, there was a garage-like door that she could lift up.

She turned and saw that A was almost to Anna and Rose.

"What are you going to do?" Rose yelled over the sirens.

"I don't know!" Anna yelled truthfully. "But you need to go!"

Rose looked back over at the garage door.

"Good luck!" She yelled.

"Same to you!" Anna yelled back.

Rose got one last look at Anna and the others and then she turned to the door and ran for it.

When she got to the door, she grabbed the bottom of it and lifted it up with all her might. She lifted it just enough for her to slide under and she did so as fast as she could.

When she was outside, she looked back under the door in time to see A shoot something at Anna.

It hit her in the shoulder and Rose screamed.

Anna fell to the ground, but like last time, there wasn't any blood. When Rose looked a little harder, she saw that a small dart stuck into her shoulder.

She blew a breath of relief when she knew it was only a tranquilizer.

A looked up from Anna's body and at Rose.

Rose held her breath as she and A had a stare down.

She shook her head to get out of her confusion as she slammed the door shut.

She stood up and looked around her. It was day time, probably the afternoon, and in front of her was nothing but woods. She turned around and saw that the hell hole that A kept her and the others in was a large building with the words:

 **John's auto equipment!**

Sprawled across the building.

So A was keeping them in an abandoned factory? Classy.

Rose turned back to the woods and started to run towards it.

She had to get as far away from the factory as possible. A could come out at any second and Rose wanted to be nowhere near it.

She wasn't sure how long she ran for, but when she stopped, it was dark out.

She leaned against a tree as she gasped for breath. When she was calmed down it finally hit her.

She was lost.

These weren't the Rosewood woods. Rose knew those woods like the back of her hand, and this definitely wasn't them.

So where was she?

She looked around the dark woods and saw nothing but trees. That's the only thing that she's seen since she left.

Trees.

No river's, roads, nothing.

The sound of Rose's stomach growling interrupted her thought.

She put a hand on her stomach and rubbed it, but that didn't stop the pain.

A mosquito buzzed past Rose and landed on her neck and she quickly smacked it.

She screamed out in pain when her palm landed on the back of her neck where the tracker was.

Then Rose felt her heart sink as she remembered.

The tracker.

A knew where she was.

It didn't matter how far she ran, A would always know where she was.

She looked around her for something sharp to stab the tracker out, but the only think close enough was a rock, and she wasn't going to use that.

Rose took a deep breath as she slumped down the tree.

She put her head in her hands as she thought about Zoe, Kara and Anna.

She wondered what A was doing to them. She felt a tear roll down her face as she thought about them.

"Please let them be okay." She whispered to herself.

"Who?"

Rose jumped up from the ground as fast as she could. She grabbed a rock and held it over her head, ready to throw, as she stared at the person who spoke.

Her jaw dropped as she looked at him.

Zak pointed at the rock. "What is up with you and trying to kill me with rocks?"

"You're dead." Rose said, still holding the rock.

Zak walked over to Rose. He grabbed the rock and dropped it next to him and Rose.

"No I'm not." He said gently.

Rose balled up her fist and connected it to his jaw.

"You never thought on coming to see me!" She yelled as she punched him.

He took a step back in shock as she grabbed his jaw and stared at Rose up and down.

"I couldn't let anyone know I was alive." He said as she massaged his jaw. "I'm shocked Kara didn't tell you though."

Rose grabbed the rock and threw it, but it missed Zak by a mile.

"Kara knew!" She yelled. "You went and saw _Kara_ but not me!"

"I was trying to get Kara out of jail, but she refused my help. Once she was out, I was going to help you out in secret and find out who A was. Once they were behind bars, I would come out as being alive." Zak explained.

"I would have kept the secret."

"I needed your grief to look real."

"You still should have told me." Rose said in a low voice.

"I left you the hoodie and the necklace."

Rose's eyes went wide. "That was you!"

"Of course." He said with a smile.

Rose took a deep breath. She knew she shouldn't but she hugged him.

He wrapped his arms around Rose and she found herself crying again.

She missed him so much.

When they broke apart, he looked at Rose up and down.

"Is that blood?" He asked.

Rose looked down at her purple children's dress and the blood splattered all over it.

"Yeah." She said in disgust.

"Who's is it?" Zak asked in a concerned tone.

"Chelsey's. Anna shot her." Rose said, depressed.

"Anna killed her?"" Zak asked in shock.

Rose nodded her head.

Zak took a deep breath. "Okay, we need to get the tracker out." He said, changing the subject.

"With what?"

Zak pulled something out of his pocket. A knife.

Rose took a step back. "No."

"No matter where you go, A will find you." Zak said.

"I know that but you can't just stab me with that and dig around for it!"

"I know where it is, Rose. I can have it out in two minutes." Zak said. He stepped forwards and grabbed Rose's hand.

She took a deep breath as she looked into his warm, brown eyes. "Fine."

She and Zak sat down, still holding hands.

"I'm going to count down from three." He said as he moved Rose's hair aside.

She said nothing as Zak started to count.

"One…" He started.

"Two…" Rose pinched her eyes shut.

"Three…" The knife pierced Rose's skin, and she screamed.

She put her hands over her mouth the muffle the screams, but it hardly made a difference.

"Almost done!" Zak said over the screams.

She grinded her teeth to the point of where she thought they were going to chip, but the pain stopped before she could do so.

"Done." Zak said as he wrapped a cloth around Rose's neck.

She turned around and stared at him with teary eyes. She looked down at his hand and saw the bloody tracker.

She stood up and grabbed it. She threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Zak didn't stop her.

She stopped when the thing was nothing but a few scattered pieces.

Zak reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Come on." He said. "We should go."

"Do you know where we are?" Rose asked as the last of the tears rolled down her face.

He nodded.

"How did you find me?" Rose asked.

"That's not important right now. What's important is that we get you to your parents."

Rose said nothing. She _really_ wanted to see her mom and dad. And now that she knew where A was keeping the others, she would be able to get Kara, Zoe and Anna out too.

Zak started to walk and Rose followed close behind.

All she could think about is what she would say to her parents when she saw them.

Each step she took brought butterflies to her stomach.

And she couldn't wait.

* * *

"Where do we start?" Hanna asked as she looked around the lair.

Hanna, Caleb and Mona had just entered the lair, and there was too much to look at.

There were pictures of the girls, outfits, wigs and weapons. A shiver went down her spine.

"The computers." Mona answered. "All the information about the trackers would be on that."

"Okay, do that."

Mona and Caleb walked to the computer and immediately started to type away.

As they did this, she looked around at the pictures on the wall.

There were hundreds taped sloppily onto the wall. Hanna's eye's stopped on a picture of Anna.

She was in her room, sleeping.

Seeing these pictures made Hanna want to hurl. The fact that this new A had pictures of Anna in her _house_. She swallowed as she looked at others.

She saw a picture of Rose on the floor of her kitchen with glass shards everywhere and blood pooling around her.

She pinched her eyes closed as she moved on to the next picture.

It was Zoe. She was in her wheelchair with Cory pushing her. They were outside at the park and it looked as if they were heading towards the nature trail.

A shaky breath escaped Hanna's lips as her eyes stopped on a picture of Kara.

She was in Noel Khans cabin with a terrified look on her face and blood splattered all over her.

Hanna knew exactly when this picture was taken. It was when Kara saw Zak get shot right in front of her.

A tear ran down Hanna's face as she looked at the picture.

She wondered what Kara was going through right now, and if this same scared look was plastered onto her face.

Hanna put her head down. "Do you guys have anything yet?"

"No, there's like, a thousand firewalls." Caleb yelled back.

"Darn." Hanna yelled back. She had no idea what a firewall was but it sounded bad.

Hanna brought her eyes back to the wall as she scanned over other disturbing pictures.

She felt her heart stop when her eyes passed over a picture far away from the others.

It was all four of the girls together, each of them strapped to a carousel looking device.

Hanna grabbed it and ripped it down from the wall.

She looked at the date and sob escaped from her throat.

She turned to Caleb and Mona with the photo outstretched.

"Guys!" Hanna called out. "This photo is from two days ago."

Mona and Caleb turned to Hanna with concerned looks.

Mona swiped the photo out of her hands and stared at it with a concentrated face.

"They all look okay." Mona said with slight relief.

Caleb took the photo from Mona's hands and stared at it. "They all look so scared." He added.

"What do you think A was doing to them?" Hanna asked.

"Anything they wanted to do." Mona said in a low voice.

Hanna looked over Caleb's shoulder at the picture. She stared at Kara. Her eyes were closed.

She looked over at the others. They all looked terrified, and Rose was crying. Hanna looked at Rose close and she felt her stomach turn when she saw her hand.

Hanna took the photo from Caleb and stared at her hand.

"What's on Rose's hand?" Hanna asked as she turned the picture so Mona and Caleb could see.

Mona looked at it with confusion, but that was quickly washed away with fear.

"It's a burn mark." Mona answered.

"What?" Kara said in disbelief as she turned the picture back to her. She looked at Rose's hand closer. It definitely looked like a fresh burn mark.

"I think she was branded by something." Mona added.

Hanna put the photo down and sighed. "Do you think this happened to all of them?"

"I hope not." Caleb murmured.

"Okay A freaking branded them, what else are they doing?" Hanna said frantically.

"I don't know, but we're going to get them out before A can do anything worse." Mona said. She turned back to the computer and started typing.

Caleb looked out of it, but he turned back and watched Mona.

Hanna looked at the screen and all she saw were a bunch of numbers and letters.

"Almost there." Mona said, not taking her eyes of the screen.

She clicked one last button and the screen went black.

"Done." She said.

"What do you mean 'done', nothings there?" Hanna said as she pointed at the screen.

"Wait for it!" Mona said. She held a hand out to shush Hanna.

A blinking green dot flashed on the screen labeled **ZAED3.**

A second blinked and this one was labeled **KCHR1.**

That was it.

"Okay, what's this?" Hanna asked.

"That's them." Caleb answered.

"There's only two, where are the others?" Hanna asked frantically.

"I don't know." Mona said. She started typing again.

"Okay, well who's missing?" Hanna asked.

"I'm guessing those two are Kara and Zoe." Caleb answered.

Hanna felt relief when she heard Kara's name, but she felt sorrow as she thought about Anna and Rose. Why weren't they showing up?

"Why aren't Anna and Rose showing up?" Hanna asked.

"I can only think of two reasons." Mona said, still typing. "They either took the trackers out, or they're dead."

Hanna's stomach dropped. "Dead?"

"It's the only explanation." Mona said. She stopped typing when another file showed up.

Caleb pushed her hand away and grabbed the mouse.

"What's this?" He asked.

"I don't know." Mona said with slight fear in her voice.

They both stared at the screen, nobody making a move.

"If you won't do it, then I will." Hanna said. She bent down impatiently as she grabbed the mouse and clicked the file.

The file opened and it showed four slots. They were labeled: Kara, Zoe, Anna and Rose.

Two of them, Kara and Zoe, were beeping. The other two, Anna and Rose, weren't.

"What is that?" Hanna asked in fear.

Mona sighed. "Heart rate monitors."

Hanna looked at the screen. Anna and Rose's were flat. Did that mean…?

No, she wouldn't think that.

Both Kara and Zoe had steady heartbeats, and Hanna portrayed that as something good.

"Can you track them down?" Hanna asked Hanna and Caleb.

"Probably." Mona said as she stared at the monitor.

Hanna nodded her head. "I'm going to go call Spencer and Aria and tell them what we know."

She left Caleb and Mona to do their computer hacking thing as she walked to the corner of the lair. She looked at the mannequin dressed in all black facing her. She groaned and turned the other way.

She dialed Spencer's number first, figuring that maybe she'd figure out a plan if the trackers didn't work. After a few rings, Spencer answered.

"Hey, Han." Spencer said in a sad voice.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that we got to the tracker information and we can probably track them down."

"What?" Spencer asked, her voice muffled by static.

"We can track down the girls!" Hanna said clearly, but Spencer's reply was inaudible.

"Hold on, let me get a better signal." Hanna said as she headed to the stairs.

"I'll be back." Hanna called to Mona and Caleb.

They grunted in response, too focused on what they were doing to come up with words.

Hanna rolled her eyes as she marched up the stairs and through the costume shop.

"Can you hear me now?" Hanna asked.

Spencer sniffled. "Yeah."

"Okay, we got the tracker information and there's a good chance we can track them down." Hanna said with excitement.

"Yeah, whoever's left." Spencer mumbled.

Hanna stood up straight. "What are you sobbing about?"

"You didn't get it?" She said, her voice groggy.

"Get what?"

"The picture."

"What picture?" Hanna asked. Her hands were starting to shake in fear.

Spencer said nothing; all Hanna heard was the sniffling of her nose.

"Pull your smart self together and tell me what the hell this picture is!" Hanna yelled strictly.

Spencer took a deep, shaky breath. "The picture of Anna."

Hanna took deep breaths, each one squeezing her heart a little bit harder. She remembered how Anna didn't have a dot signaling her tracker, and how her heartbeat was flat.

Her phone buzzed and she reluctantly brought it down from her ear. It was a text with a blocked number with a picture attached to it.

"I got the picture now." Hanna said slowly into the phone.

She clicked the notification and the message popped up quickly. She felt her heart drop into her stomach as she read the message.

 _ **Stop looking; they'll all be dead before you find anything.**_

 _ **-A**_

There was a picture attached to the message. She clicked It with a shaky finger and when it opened, Hanna dropped her phone.

It was a picture of Anna, just like Spencer had said, except Anna looked lifeless.

She looked dead.

And then the flat line of the heart rate and the nonexistent green dot filled into her head again.

Hanna reached down and picked her phone back up. She looked at the photo again. Hanna felt a tear run down her face.

She put the phone back up to her ear.

"Spencer, I am so sorry." Was all Hanna could say.

"Find them." Spencer said back, her voice much steadier. "Find the others."

Hanna nodded. "We will."

The phone started beeping, signaling that the call ended.

Hanna put her phone into her pocket and wiped her face of her tears. That picture haunted her memory.

Did A really…kill Anna?

A sob escaped Hanna's lips when she thought that.

Hanna stood up straight and looked at the front door to the costume shop.

She saw Brandon standing there, standing guard just like he was supposed to be.

Brendon.

Brendon was Anna's _brother._

How was he going to take this?

Hanna took a step towards the door, but she figured that now wasn't the time. Mona and Caleb had to get the tracker information _now._

She turned towards the stairs that led to the lair and she marched down them.

Mona and Caleb were still typing away at the computer, looking no further than they did when she first walked upstairs.

"Did you figure it out yet?" Hanna asked as she sniffled.

"No, not yet." Caleb said, not looking away from the screen.

"Well, hurry it up." Hanna said angrily.

Mona and Caleb stopped typing and looked at Hanna with shocked and concerned looks.

"What's up with you, Han?" Mona asked when she saw Hanna's crying self.

"I got a text from A." Hanna said as she pulled out her phone.

"What did it say?" Caleb asked as he walked towards his wife.

She unlocked her IPhone and pulled up the message. She avoided looking at the screen as she handed the phone to Caleb.

"Oh my god." He said as he looked at it. Tear started to form in his eyes.

"You need to find them _now._ " Hanna demanded.

Mona grabbed the phone from Caleb and started at it with an emotionless face.

"Anna's fine." She said as she handed the phone back to Hanna.

"What do you mean, look at her!" Hanna yelled as she looked at the picture again.

"Hanna, there's no blood or marks on her body, also look at her eyes." Mona said.

Hanna looked at them, but she didn't see anything.

When Hanna didn't get it, Mona explained.

"It's the same thing that Cece did to me." She said. "It's a drug or something, but she's fine. You can tell from her eyes. When you die, your eyes are glossy, but all I see in her eyes is her calling for help."

Hanna stared at it again, but she still didn't get it.

"Are you sure?" Hanna asked.

"I'm positive." Mona said as she turned back to the computer.

Hanna looked at Caleb. He looked confused too, but also relieved.

Hanna considered calling Spencer and telling her, but she didn't want to give her false hope, so she figured that they could celebrate Anna being alive when she was back in Spencer and Toby's arms.

"We're close." Mona said as she clicked some things on the computer.

Hanna looked over her shoulder impatiently, just waiting for the moment when the location popped up.

A file popped up and Caleb jumped up. "That's it!" He said excitedly.

Mona looked up at Hanna and Caleb with a happy look.

"This is going to tell us where they are." She said with a small grin.

"Click it then!" Hanna yelled impatiently.

Mona turned to the computer and clicked the file.

It opened up to a red screen with a picture with all four of the girls faces, their eyes crossed out.

 _ **Did you think it would be that easy? Better luck next time, bitches!**_

 _ **-A**_

Hanna stared at the screen in disbelief, her fist's balled up.

"Dammit!" She yelled.

Mona turned to Hanna and Caleb.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's not your fault." Caleb said. He turned to Hanna.

"Calm down, Han." He said, reaching a hand out to comfort her.

"Calm down? My daughter is stuck in some hellhole being tortured and who knows what else, and we have nothing! _Nothing!_ And you want me to calm down?" She yelled with anguish.

"Were all upset, but we're going to find them." Caleb said as he grabbed Hanna in his arms. She sobbed into them.

"We'll figure something out." He said, rubbing Hanna's head.

"Kara's tough." Mona said. "She can make it through, just like her mom did."

Hanna turned her head to look at Mona. She smiled at her and Mona smiled back.

Hanna pulled away from Caleb. "What are we going to say to the others?"

"The truth." Mona said. "A planned this and we fell for it."

Hanna wiped her face. "Great."

Caleb grabbed her hand and directed her towards the exit of the lair.

Hanna felt like she had been stabbed seventeen times in the heart, but she needed to stay positive.

She had to be positive for her.

For Kara.

* * *

 **AN: Tada!**

 **It looks like the parent's plan didn't work. :(**

 **Do you guys like the parent/child chapters, because I do.**

 **Also, do you think Anna will be able to live with the fact that she killed someone?**

 **Review and let me know :)**

 **Also, next week there probably won't be a chapter because I'm going to be gone for half of the week, but I'll try.**

 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-Jessica**


	49. Help

**AN: I love you all sm.**

 **I'm not going to lie, there are so many times when I want to give up on this story, but I don't because I am committed and I don't want to let any of you down.**

 **Plus, I have** _ **so**_ **many people tell me that my fanfiction is the best they've read and that they love the story and it makes my day 100 times better.**

 **So I just want to s/o everyone who has written a review or told me how much they love the story :)**

 **I honestly care about each and every one of you with all my heart!**

 **teAmllorett and Julie pll fan followed and favorited so thanks!**

 **Ayishia2013 followed while EzriaWedding favorited. Thanks so much!**

 **Also, Julie pll fan started a fanfiction about pll next generation that I think you should check out!**

 **Alright, enough with all this mushy gushy stuff!**

 **On with the chapter!**

* * *

A month.

It's been a month since Rose escaped and nothing has happened.

Well, other than the fact that A has been hurting the girls like no other ever since she got out.

Just this week, Zoe has had a fingernail ripped out, and she was trapped in a small box with little air for who knows how long.

Plus, she can't even remember the last time she had a decent meal.

But the worst thing was what Zoe was going through right now.

She was strapped to a chair, blindfolded, with muffled moans and groans emitting throughout the room.

She knew that the noises were coming from Anna and Kara. She knew the sounds all too well.

For the past few weeks, A has been putting the girls through these tests to see who was loyal to who. You could either cause pain to someone else, or spare them and cause pain to yourself. One of these games was how Zoe lost a fingernail.

Zoe wondered what Rose was doing at this very moment.

Once Rose was out of the building, A ran after her. They were gone for a long time, but they came back empty handed and angry.

And that's when the games begun.

But where was Rose now?

Did she ever make it back to Rosewood, and if she did, was she able to get help? Were the police searching for the others right now from the little information Rose was able to tell them?

Or was she dead.

Did she get lost out there and starve, or did some gang find her in her weak state and take advantage of her.

Who knows? Zoe really didn't have much faith in the world anymore.

A loud buzzer rang through the room, and Zoe's heart did a backflip.

Daniel's voice came from behind her and he gave Zoe the instructions.

"This one's pretty simple." He started. "Watch your friends get whipped until we see bone, or take half the blow."

Usually, there was some sort of riddle, but it sounded as if Daniel was bored of these games now.

Ever since Anna killed Chelsey, A sent Daniel to do all the dirty work, and maybe he was starting to get sick of it.

He ripped the blindfold off of Zoe and she looked out at what was in front of her.

They were in the same room as always. Zoe nicknamed it "A's playroom," because it's where A got her happiness.

It was the same room were all the gory stuff went down, and from all the times that Zoe had to walk out of it, she saw that it was the third door on the right in the room of doors.

The only other doors she knew of was the door in the middle, which was where A spent most of their time, and the door directly across from the one that lead to the dining area, which Zoe and the others rarely saw.

She wasn't sure what the other doors led to and hopefully she wouldn't have to find out.

"Please." Zoe croaked. "Don't make me do this."

Daniel sighed. "I don't have a choice."

Zoe looked at him with a sad look and for a second, she could see pity in his eyes.

"Hurry up." He said, his gaze turning back into his bitch self.

Zoe looked at Anna and Kara, both with scared looks on their faces. They were gagged, but Zoe could tell exactly what they were thinking by just looking at their eyes.

Zoe knew that in order to survive these games was to be smart, and the smart way was to save yourself and do whatever you can to not piss off A.

But Zoe wasn't smart.

"Just hit me." Zoe said, pinching her eyes shut.

Daniel sighed again. "You sure."

"Yes."

Daniel grabbed the whip that was hanging on the wall and held it above his head.

"If it was up to me," he said in a whisper, "I would have let you all go."

Zoe opened her mouth to say thanks, but the whip cracked down on her back and she let out an excruciating scream.

This pain was the worst one of all. She said that every time, but every time it got worse and worse.

She felt a tear run down her face as the whip slapped her skin again, this time more painful than the last.

She opened her eyes for a second to see Kara and Anna's faces. There was a mix of relief and sorrow on their faces. Zoe couldn't blame them.

Zoe's life seemed to play on a loop right now.

She got hit with the whip, she screamed, a tear ran down her face, she opened her eyes to look at her friends, repeat.

Whip, scream, tear, friends, repeat.

Over and over again this happened, to the point where Zoe started to see her own blood seep under her.

She prayed to whatever god was out there that she would pass out soon, but it seemed as if god was purposefully turning the other check. It was as if he/she was trying to stay away from Zoe, because they knew bad luck was always around the corner.

"Please!" Zoe yelled out to the nothingness.

"I'm sorry!" Daniel yelled as he brought the whip down again.

Except, Zoe wasn't talking to him. She was talking to the nonexistent son-of-a-bitch who was blocking every good thing Zoe had in her life.

Zoe put her head down and let the whip hit again and again. It got to the point that Zoe was numb, and she could barely feel the whip anymore.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

And then, she felt nothing at all.

She lifted her head to see Daniel standing in front of her with the bloody whip in hand.

He knelt down and undid the bindings on her wrist and ankles.

"Door one." He whispered as he undid the cuff on Zoe's left ankle.

She meant to ask "what?" but is come out more as "va?"

"The first door on the left." He whispered so quietly to where Zoe could barely hear him. "When you walk out, it will be unlocked. I'll distract A, you go in it."

Zoe wanted to ask what was behind the door, but she was unable to form words at the moment.

He undid the last strap and carefully lifted Zoe up over his shoulder.

He carried her out of the room and started to carry her down the halls back to her cell.

A strand of her hair fell in her eyes. Her used-to-be blond hair was now so dirty, that it looked brown. Plus, she had a few red tints here and there from blood.

She tried to ask what was going to happen to Kara and Anna, but when she opened her mouth, she had a coughing fit.

Daniel got to her cage and opened the door. He slowly laid her down and looked at her.

"Hang in there." He said as he started to walk out the door. "And remember what I said."

And then he was gone.

Zoe wasn't exactly sure how long she laid there. With her wounds throbbing, she looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling with her name spelled out in curvy letters for what seemed like forever before she felt herself start to drift off.

She closed her eyes just as a tear ran down her face, and soon after, she found sleep.

* * *

When Zoe woke up, she found that she was in a different room. One that she hadn't been in before.

The room was bright and colorful, unlike A's playroom. Most rooms were like this though, but it had been a while since she'd been in such a bright room.

As the days passed, Zoe's once colorful pink cell had grown musty and gross. The paint on the walls chipped, and blood stained the cushiony bedding, leaving behind an awful copper smell.

The only other bright room was the dining area, and as she said before, it had been a _long_ time since Zoe had seen that room.

Zoe squinted her eyes as she looked up at the colorful Yellow and Pink polka-dotted ceiling. She focused her eyes to look at her body, her mouth dropped when she realized that she was shirtless.

Well, not entirely.

There was a large cloth that wrapped around Zoe right shoulder and expanded and covered her chest and half of her stomach, and then it wrapped under her left armpit and covered most of her back and it then connected back up at the shoulder. It was as if Zoe was wearing a Girl Scout sash that was way too small.

She sat up quickly, which she soon realized was a mistake. The wounds on her back ached as she sat up and it felt as if she was receiving the whip all over again.

She slowly slid off the metal table she was laying on and walked over to the mirror hanging on the wall.

It was the first time Zoe got a good look at herself. The mirror in her cell was all blurry from mildew, mold, blood, and other things that Zoe didn't know. It was too covered for Zoe to look at herself.

But _this_ mirror looked as if it had just been cleaned.

She stared at herself in horror. She looked at her ribs peeking out from under the cloth and gagged. She probably would have thrown up if there was anything in her stomach. She lifted her arms up and the usual jiggle from the extra fat was gone. Plus, Zoe's face looked skeletal. Her cheekbones were sharp as the skin clung to them.

She turned around and looked over her shoulder at the bloody cloth that clung to her back. She was in desperate need for a new cloth, but there was none around.

She looked at her now poop-brown hair as a tear ran down her face. It left a trail as it streaked through the layers of dirt.

She stared at this girl in the mirror and barely recognized her. The only sign that it was still Zoe was the freckle under her left boob that looked like a third nipple and the scars on her wrists.

She turned away from the mirror and tried her best to forget what she just saw. She took a deep breath as she headed towards the door.

She knew that the door was going to be locked, but the little hope in her told her to at least try.

She walked to the door and put her bony hand on the doorknob. She turned it, expecting it not to budge, but to her surprise, the handle turned and the door opened.

Her jaw hung down as she walked into the room of doors in shock. She looked around at all the doors as she remembered what Daniel had said to her.

" _The first door on the left._ "

She looked to the left at the first door. It looked just like all the others, but something about it seemed hopeful.

She limped over to the door and grabbed the handle. She remembered how Daniel had said that the door would be unlocked, but did she really trust Daniel?

He has been nothing but a vindictive rat ever since she met him, but over the last week, there had been moments where Zoe saw some pity for the girls in his eyes.

She gripped the handle tight and turned it. To her surprise, it opened.

She looked up at the camera in the corner of the room because she knew A was watching. What was the point if A could charge her at any moment and put her through another torturous trap?

Except when she looked up at the camera, she saw that the blinking red dot was gone, and that meant that the camera wasn't on.

Was Daniel on her side?

There is no way that A would turn off the cameras unless someone _made_ them, and the only person that ever got close enough to A was Daniel.

But why would he help Zoe?

She shook her head and cleared him from her mind. She would ask him about it once she was out of this hell-hole.

She flung the door open and walked inside, quickly shutting the door behind her.

She looked at the room. She could barely see in front of her because the lights were off. She put her hand on the wall and started to pat around aimlessly for a light switch. She felt like a blind person.

Her fingers grazed across a switch and she quickly flipped it up.

The lights flicked on and she looked around the room with confusion. There were many weird booths lined up on both sides of the walls, all of them with a smiley cartoon animal on the side.

She walked up to the one with a shark painted on the side because it reminded her of Emily and how she swam for the sharks and Rosewood high school. She looked in the inside of the booth and felt her heart drop into her stomach when she saw what was inside.

A telephone.

Without thinking, Zoe grabbed the phone off the wall and typed in the first phone number that came to mind on the keypad.

As the phone was ringing, Zoe realized that she had no idea whose phone number she dialed. It all came out as instinct.

After five rings, Zoe was beginning to lose hope that the person would answer the phone, but just as she was about to put the phone back down, the person picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

It was Cory's confused and sad voice on the other line.

She opened her mouth to respond but nothing but air came out.

"Hello?" He asked again. "Is someone there?"

Zoe opened her mouth again but only a weird gargling sound came out.

Cory sighed at the other end. "Look, now isn't a really good time, so if you have to say something, say it."

Zoe took a deep breath and swallowed. She used all her strength and will to at least say something.

"Help." She croaked in a small voice.

It was silent on the other end.

"Help." She said again, a little bit louder and a little bit clearer.

There was a gasp of realization on Cory's side of the phone.

"Zoe?" He asked with disbelief in his voice.

She opened her mouth again to say something else, but before she could, she felt a hand clamp over her mouth.

She tried to scream, but the little noise that came out was muffled by A's glove.

"Zoe!" She heard Cory yell. "Zoe, where are you?!"

She cried as she heard his voice. All she wanted to do was talk to him, but it was impossible.

She bit A's finger and they let go for a second, allowing time for Zoe to yell.

"Please help, Cory!" She yelled as she tried to get away from A. "Help us!"

A grabbed Zoe again and she screamed as A hit her over the head with something.

"Oh my god, Zoe!" Cory called as Zoe dropped the phone. "Stay strong, I'm going to find you!"

She wasn't able to yell back in time before A hit her. She didn't even see what A hit her _with_. All she knew was that it was hard and it hurt and it was strong enough to send her tumbling down to the ground.

She was out before she even hit the floor.

* * *

Emily sat in the couch with a picture of Zoe, Alison and herself in her hands. The picture was the three of them in front of the zebra exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo. Zebras have been Zoe's favorite animal ever since she was little.

Emily felt a tear run down her face as she stared at the photo. Two summers ago, before all the crazy A stuff started happening again.

Alison walked in the room and handed Emily a bowl of mac and cheese.

"Here." She said.

Emily put the photo down as she grabbed the bowl. "Thanks." Emily said as she looked at the mac and cheese. It was spiraled shaped noodles. They were Zoe's favorite.

She took a deep breath as she picked up the spoon and took a bite. Emily couldn't remember the last time she ate, so she was grateful that Alison took the time to make her something.

Alison sat down next to Emily and grabbed her hand. She looked at the photo that Emily had set in her lap.

"We're going to find her." Alison said softly.

Emily took another bite. "It's been a month, Ali."

Alison sighed. "We'll find her." She said again.

"What do you think she's doing right now?" Emily asked. Her voice cracked.

"Who knows?" Alison answered. "She's probably putting herself before ever body else. Or hopefully, she's finding a way to get out."

Emily stared straight ahead. "Hopefully." She took another bite.

They were silent for a few minutes.

"Have you heard anything from Cory?" Alison asked.

Emily shook her head.

Nobody had been able to find _anything_ out about where the girls were. The only clue they had was the picture Hanna found in the lair, but there wasn't anything in the picture that hinted where they were.

"I still can't believe the police haven't found anything." Alison said, trying to keep the conversation alive. "You would think they would have found _something_."

"You would think." Emily repeated. She was zoning out.

Alison looked at Emily with a harsh look. "Can you take this a little more seriously?"

Emily looked at Ali with a confused look. "I am."

"No you're not!" Ali yelled, she stood up.

"I'm sorry that I'm not jumping for joy over that fact that our daughter is missing!" Emily yelled. She angrily slammed the now empty bowl of mac and cheese on the table next to her.

"It just seems like you've given up." Ali said in a sad tone.

Emily took a deep breath. "Maybe it's because I have."

Alison's jaw dropped down. She stared at Emily with a shocked expression.

"What?" She asked angrily.

Emily stood up and looked at her wife. "We have _nothing_! No leads or anything!" Tears started to fall down her face. "The police looked up and down A's lair _thousands_ of times and have found nothing! Something isn't just going to appear out of thin air, Alison!"

Alison stared at Emily with an emotion that she wasn't able to figure out.

"You didn't stop looking for me." Alison said after a while. "Everyone thought I was dead but you didn't give up hope."

Emily sighed. "I was a kid."

"And this is our kid out there!" Alison yelled. "Our _child,_ Emily. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does!" Emily yelled back. She grabbed the photograph of the family at the Zoo and clutched it tight in her hands. She felt like she was falling apart and she had to hold on to something before she broke down completely.

"It doesn't seem like you care." Alison said harshly.

Emily through the picture in rage to the side of her. She heard a loud _crack._

"Don't you dare tell me that I don't care!" She yelled.

Alison looked at the shattered photograph on the ground and then back at Emily. Fear was in her eyes.

Emily suddenly felt a fear run through her body as well. She looked at the photograph and she felt her heart sink.

"Oh my god." She cried as she looked at the glass splattered along the floor. She looked back up at Alison. "I'm sorry."

Ali looked at her in disbelief.

Emily took a few steps towards her, and Alison took a step back.

"I'm sorry." Emily repeated.

Alison took a deep breath. "I know it's hard, and I know that we don't have a clue where she is, but we can't give up. We can't abandon her."

Emily nodded. "I know." She said as tears ran down her face. "I know and I'm sorry."

Alison looked Emily up and down with a sad look. After staring for what felt like forever, she finally walked towards Emily and wrapped her in a hug.

A sob escaped Emily's lips as she wrapped her arms tight around Alison.

"We'll find her." Alison said into Emily's ears. "I know we will."

Just then, a rapid knock sounded at the front door.

Emily and Alison broke apart and stared at each other with confused faces.

It was almost midnight. Who would be here so late in the night?

Then the doorbell started to ring furiously.

"I'll get it." Alison said. She squeezed Emily's hand before she walked off to the door.

Once Ali was gone, Emily turned her head to the shattered photo on the floor. She walked over to it with cautious steps, dodging the glass shards along the way.

She knelt down and grabbed the picture from the frame with shaky fingers. She stared at it again. Her eyes started to water.

She would do _anything_ to have Zoe back.

Emily lifted her head up when she heard Alison open the door.

It was silent, and then her voice called out, "Cory?"

Emily stood up so fast that she felt dizzy. There was only one reason why he would be here so late, and that means that he has news on Zoe.

Emily ran towards the door. Cory's wet, startled face looked at Emily.

"What did you find out?" Emily asked frantically.

"I don't know how she did it but…" He stammered. "But she called me."

Emily's eyes grew wide. "Called you?"

Alison stepped aside so Cory could walk in. He did and sat down on the nearest couch.

"I was in my room going through photos of me and her when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, it didn't even have the same area code, but something told me to answer it so I did. It was silent on the other end so I was about to hang up, but then she talked."

Emily felt tears start to build up in her eyes. She could see them in Ali's eyes too.

"What did she say?" Ali asked.

"She asked for help." Cory said, his voice shaking.

Emily felt her heart sink. "Did she say where she was?"

"No. I don't think she even knows that. She just begged for my help." He looked down at the ground. "That's all she said. She kept begging for help, but then something happened."

"What?" Emily asked abruptly.

"She just stopped talking, then there was the sound of struggle. There was a loud thunk, then she screamed and then the call ended. I think A got to her before she could tell me anything."

Emily put a hand to her mouth. She grabbed Alison's hand.

"Did she sound okay?" Emily asked in a small voice.

"Her voice was a little scratchy but overall, she sounded fine.

Emily felt a little relief run through her body as she heard this.

"Thank you." Emily said. She turned to Alison. "She's alive."

Alison smiled at her. "I told you."

Emily looked back at Cory and smiled at him. "You helped a lot."

He nodded. "I'd do anything to get Zoe back."

Emily turned back to Alison. "Do you think Caleb and Mona can track the number down?"

Alison nodded. "They can do anything."

Emily smiled even bigger. She jumped up from the couch and ran to her phone.

She dialed Caleb's numbed and bit her nail.

She jumped up and down as it rang.

They had something.

They could get the girls back.

They could do it.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so it looks like the girls** _ **may**_ **get out soon, but who knows.**

 **And also, OMG THE FINALE HOLY CRAP!**

 **I KNEW FROM THE START THAT MARY WAS SPENCER'S MOM AND OMG! ALISON IS PREGNANT! AHHHH! AND EMISON AHAHSIFSOISOIFHAOTV**

 **AND SPENCER IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER AND SHE WAS SHOT! IF SHE IS DEAD I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL NEVER STOP CRYING!**

 **Whew…okay, I'm good.**

 **So I was able to get this chapter up, but I start school next week so the chapters may be a little shorter or up later, but I'll try my best to get them as good as possible.**

 **Alright, I'll see y'all later!**

 **-Jessica**


	50. Patience

**AN: So I have officially started school. Ew.**

 **And because of that, there may be some schedule changes. I'm going to try my best to continue to post a chapter every week, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it often.**

 **With school and drivers training coming up, I'll barely have any free time to myself, so there might be a small chapter every week or a normal chapter every two weeks.**

 **So if there ever isn't a chapter on Friday, that's why.**

 **I'm really going to try though.**

 **Skyfire2222 followed and favorited. Thanks so much!**

 **Plus, ClireMars followed. Thanks!**

 **Now onto the chapter.**

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Spencer was awoken by the phone ringing.

She rolled over and looked at the empty side of the bed. Toby was already up rushing to the phone.

He looked at the caller ID.

"It's Emily." He said in a groggy voice.

Spencer sat up. "Well, answer it." She ushered.

He pressed the talk button and brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked.

Spencer watched his face as Emily spoke back.

"Slow down." He said as he walked over to Spencer.

She watched his face, unsure of the emotion it was displaying.

He sat down on the bed as Toby's eyes widened.

"Really? Are you serious?" He said with hope in his voice.

"What is it?" Spencer interrupted.

He put up his hand to quite Spencer. She took little offense.

"Do you want us to come over now?" Toby asked. He looked at his watch on his wrist.

Spencer stared at him in confusion. What was going on?

Spencer could hear Emily's voice chattering away on the other side of the line, but she was unable to identify what she was saying.

"We'll be over as soon as possible." Toby said. He then brought the phone down from his ear and pressed the end call button.

He looked at the phone with a shocked expression.

"What did she say?" Spencer asked in a small voice.

Toby slowly looked up at Spencer, still shocked. "They have something."

Spencer shook her head slightly. "Be more specific."

"Zoe was able to call Cory."

Spencer's jaw dropped. "What?"

Toby shook his head. "Emily didn't say much. All she said was that Cory came to her saying he got a call from Zoe and they think they can track the number and they want us all over there."

Spencer watched her hands shake. It's been over a month were she had to face nothing. No one had been able to find anything about where the girls were, or who this copycat A was. But now they had something. Something big.

Spencer stood up. "Let's go." She said as she grabbed her jacket off a hanger in her closet.

Toby said nothing as he grabbed his jacket and the pair rushed out the door and sped over to Emily and Alison's house.

They pulled into the driveway, but neither one of them got out.

"What if this actually works?" Spencer peeped out.

Toby looked at her. "It has too."

She turned back to him. "But what if it doesn't?"

Toby leaned back in his chair. "Since when did Spencer Hastings doubt anything?"

"Ever since my daughter got kidnapped." Spencer said as she opened the door.

She got out and stared at the lit up house. She could see Aria pacing around through the window and Caleb was looking at Cory's phone with Mona right behind him.

"We're the last ones." Spencer said as she walked up to the front door.

Toby knocked on the door, saying nothing.

Alison opened the door almost immediately.

"Come in." She said as she stepped to the side.

The pair did and they walked straight to the main room where everyone was.

She spied Cory sitting in a chair at the corner, looked at everyone with a scared expression.

Spencer turned her sight over to Caleb looking at the phone. She guessed it was Cory's.

She walked over to him.

"Will this work?" Spencer asked.

"Hello to you too." Caleb said with a smirk.

Spencer glared at him. With something this big happening, there was no time for jokes.

"I think it can work." He finally answered. "There was an area code on the call that we can easily track down and with the right equipment, we can pin the exact location of where the call took place."

Spencer nodded her head. "What did Zoe say in the call?"

"I don't know." He answered. "I haven't listened to it."

Spencer looked down at the phone. "Should we? Maybe she said something on it that can give us a clue if this doesn't work."

Caleb nodded. "That's a good idea."

Spencer locked eyes with Emily, who was eyeing them and obviously dropping in on the conversation.

"Is that okay?" Spencer asked.

Emily nodded her head slightly.

Everyone crowded around as Caleb clicked on the call. He put the phone on speaker and pressed play with a shaky finger.

Cory's voice sounded through the room. "Hello?"

Spencer bit her nails as she waited for Zoe to answer. But it was silent besides little puffs of breath.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Came Cory's annoyed voice.

Spencer looked up at him. He still sat in the chair, his head down.

"Look, now isn't a really good time, so of you have to say something, say it."

Spencer looked around the room. Every one stared at the phone with bug eyes. Hanna even had her mouth hanging open.

"Help."

Spencer felt her heart drop at Zoe's scratchy plea.

Silence.

"Help." She said again.

Spencer pinched her eyes shut. She felt a tear form in her eyes.

There was a gasp. "Zoe?" Said Cory.

There was a little bit of air, but then there was a sound of struggle.

"Zoe! Zoe, where are you!" Cory yelled over the noise.

There was a crunch and then Zoe spoke again. "Please help us, Cory!" She yelled. "Help us!" The sound of struggle was back.

The tear finally escaped Spencer's eye as she looked up at Emily and Alison. Their hands were clutched tight as both of them silently wept.

There was a loud scream and a thunk.

"Oh my god, Zoe! Stay strong, I'm going to find you!"

There was the sound of Zoe's body hitting the floor, and then the call ended.

Spencer looked up at Caleb, fear in his eyes.

"Oh my god." Ezra mumbled behind Spencer.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

"She said 'us.'" Spencer said. "Meaning it was more than just her. Meaning that they all could be okay."

Everyone looked at her with glassy eyes. They mumbled things in agreement, but everyone was still too shocked to really speak.

Spencer was the first to walk away from the crowd. She paced around the large room as she thought.

Zoe didn't sound hurt, up until the part where she screamed. She was screaming for help, but that was expected. And, as Spencer said before, Zoe had used the word 'us.' That meant it was more than just her, and hopefully, that meant all four of them were okay.

Spencer stopped pacing and looked up at the ceiling. She saw that there was a purple sticky lizard stuck up there. She wondered how long it's been there. It was at least a month.

She brought her eyes back down to the crowd and made eye contact with Mona.

"Can you track the phone number down?" Spencer asked, trying to get everyone else back on track.

Mona nodded in a hypnotic way. She grabbed the phone from out of Caleb's hand and walked over to the kitchen where her laptop was.

Hanna put a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "Go help her." She said.

He followed Mona into the kitchen and the room was silent.

Spencer continued to look at everyone. Alison and Emily were silently crying, Aria sat down on the couch, staring at nothing in particular with a blank stare, while Ezra paced in front of her.

Mike stared out the window at the poorly lit street while Hanna stood in the middle of the room and pretended to be interested in the pot of lilacs in front of her.

Cory continued to sit in the chair in the corner with his head in his hands.

Spencer turned to Toby who was frozen next to her. "I'll be right back." She said.

Spencer walked over to Cory slowly. She sat down in the chair next to him.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked to his slumped figure.

He lifted his head up and started at her. "What?"

"I asked if you were okay." Spencer said as she leaned back. "With everything going on right now, it's easy to forget how hard this is for you."

He looked back at the floor, not saying anything.

Spencer looked at where he was looking. "She is your girlfriend, after all." She added.

He looked back up at Spencer. He hesitated before he said, "I'm scared."

She gave Cory a sympathetic look. "We all are."

He nodded slightly. "What if Mr. Rivers and Mrs. Montgomery can't track down the call? I would have gotten everybody's hopes up and when they can't do it, everyone is going to hate me for giving them false hope."

Spencer shook her head. "Nobody is going to be disappointed in you, Cory. Everyone is happy that Zoe was able to even call someone, and let's not forget she called _you_ over her own parents. That's pretty important."

A smile crept on his lips, but it quickly disappeared. "I could have done a lot more though." He said sadly. "If I had just answered that phone quicker, I could have talked to her longer, and she could have told me where she thought she was."

Spencer put a hand on his shoulder. "Do not blame yourself for anything, Cory." She said sternly. "You did everything you could have done and everyone is grateful for that."

He looked at Spencer. "Thanks."

Spencer nodded. "You're welcome."

Cory sat up straight and stretched and yawned. Spencer looked at the clock and saw that it was almost two in the morning.

"You should get some sleep. Teens these days barely get enough of it." She said.

Cory chuckled. "There's no way I'll be able to sleep."

This time, Spencer chuckled. "Whatever you say." She then stood up and looked down at him. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself?"

He nodded. "Are _you_ going to be okay?"

Spencer smiled a genuine smile. "I'll be fine."

"Me too."

She continued to smile as she turned around and walked back to her husband.

She looked down the hallway that Mona and Caleb walked down. "Did they get anywhere yet?"

Toby shook his head. "I don't think so."

Spencer grunted as her stomach swirled. "The anticipation is killing me."

Toby sighed in agreement.

"Who was that?" Mike said abruptly.

Spencer turned her head to him. "What?"

"Someone's outside." He said, stepping away.

Spencer rushed towards the window and looked out.

"They ran behind the cars." He said as he pointed to the driveway full of cars.

Spencer looked at the cars and sure enough, she saw a pair of muddy sneakers under the cars.

Spencer turned towards the group. "Who could it be?" She asked.

Hanna marched to the window. "It's obviously A." She said angrily.

Spencer looked back towards the window in time to see the person run from the cars to the other side of the house.

"I'm going to kill that rat." Hanna grunted as she ran to the other side of the house.

"Hanna, wait!" Spencer yelled as she ran after her.

Hanna didn't stop until she ran into the kitchen, past Mona and Caleb.

"Hanna, what are you doing?" Mona asked.

Hanna didn't reply as she ran past. Spencer didn't reply either as she ran after her.

Caleb got up from his chair and followed. "This can't be good." He said.

Hanna ran to the back doors and flung them open. Spencer looked over her shoulder and saw the person duck behind the trash cans.

"I got you, asshole!" Hanna yelled as she charged at them.

"Hanna, stop!" Spencer yelled as she chased her down the yard. Spencer wanted A to pay too, but who knew what A had up their sleeve. This could be a trap for all they knew.

Spencer stopped as Hanna ran behind the trash cans and jumped on the person. She and the victim grunted as their bodies collided.

Spencer sighed as she ran to see who Hanna tackled. She turned around and saw everyone sprawled around the yard.

"Oh my god." Hanna mumbled.

Spencer looked back at her and at the person she pinned.

Spencer felt all the blood rush out of her face and her jaw drop.

It was the same feeling Spencer felt when she saw Alison for the first time after she thought she had been dead all of those years.

It was the same feeling because it was the exact same situation.

Spencer looked at them again, still in shock. She could hear the gasps of realization from everyone behind her.

"Hi." He said embarrassingly.

"You're dead." Spencer said to Zak in a low tone.

He chuckled. "That's the same thing Rose said."

Aria gasped behind her. "Rose?"

"Yes Rose." Zak said. He grunted as he tried to scooch out from under Hanna. "And I would love to help you guys find the girls if Hanna would get off of me."

Hanna stared down at Zak, still with a look of shock in her face.

Spencer walked over to the two and grabbed Hanna's arm. She pulled her up and Hanna flimsily got up.

Aria and Ezra walked up to Zak.

"You said something about Rose?" Aria said in a small voice.

He brushed the dirt out from his outfit. He stared at the Fitz's with a sympathetic look. "Yeah. I was with her about a month ago."

A sob escaped from Aria's lips.

"Where is she?" Ezra asked. His voice cracked.

Zak shook his head. "I don't know."

Despair washed over Aria and Ezra's faces.

Zak took a step forwards and looked at the crowd of people. "Rose escaped from A." He started out. "And I found her and tried to get her back to Rosewood, but one night I fell asleep and when I woke up she was gone and I haven't been able to find her, but the good news is, I know where A is keeping everyone else, and from what Rose has told me, they're all alive."

Spencer felt a weight lift off her shoulders. So A was bluffing and Anna wasn't dead? She felt like she could run a mile.

But Rose…she was gone. And if A didn't have her, then who did?

"Tell us everything you know." Spencer demanded.

He brought his eyes over to Spencer. "Look, I just came back from the dead and I'm starving, so if I could just eat something, then I'd love to tell you everything I know."

Spencer, along with everyone else, glared at him, but if it was the only way to get him to talk, then Spencer would take Zak to an all you can eat buffet in Paris.

Thankfully, Alison was thinking the same thing.

"Come inside." She said.

Zak smiled and headed towards the door. Everyone gaping at him as he walked by.

Spencer stared at him as he walked in the house.

This was it.

This was they're big piece of evidence that could change _everything_.

And the only thing standing in the way was Zak and his empty stomach.

* * *

Rose sat on a log and watched him from far away.

She had no idea who he was and why he had taken her, but she didn't think he was working for A.

He was a skinny older man with dark hair and had brown eyes. They reminded her of Zak, who she was taken from.

The man picked at the dying fire. He threw a few dry leaves in it and it burned back to life.

"Why did you take me?" Rose asked for the thousandth time that month.

"Because." He answered. He looked at the fire and sat down next to it.

Rose rolled her eyes. That was always his answer.

"It's going to get chilly tonight. You should really be by the fire." He said, still looking at the fire.

"Like I'm going to trust you." Rose said as she shivered. She was actually pretty cold.

It was the beginning of fall. The leaves had turned brown and strong winds blew through the woods.

The man looked at Rose. "Have I ever tried to hurt you?"

Rose looked back at him. He really hadn't. He fed her, always had something to drink, he healed her as much as he could and he always put her first.

"No." Rose answered quietly.

He chuckled. "Now will you come and sit by the fire?"

"Only if you tell me why you took me."

"I'll tell you only if you sit by the fire." He fired back.

Rose glared at him. She reluctantly got up and limped over to him. She sat down and the flames immediately warmed her.

"I'm here." Rose said. "Now tell me."

The man sighed. "I took you because you weren't safe."

"I was perfectly safe with Zak." Rose said a little angrily.

The man shook his head. "Zak had no idea what he was doing."

Rose glared at him. "And what is so good about you that makes you better than Zak?"

"Well, for one thing, I know who A is." He said smoothly.

Rose felt her jaw drop. "If you know who A is, then why are they still out torturing my friends and not in jail?"

"Because A is a lot more twisted than you think they are. We have to wait for the right moment. Once their distracted, we can sneak in and get her."

Rose looked at the fire. An ember flew out and landed close to Rose's feet.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"I can't say."

"Why not?" Rose groaned.

"Because you won't want to hurt them and you'll hesitate when we get them."

Rose scoffed. "That asshole has been nothing but hell in my life. Trust me, I won't ruin the plan."

"You may think that now, but when it comes down to it, you won't be able too."

Rose stood up in a fit of anger. "You don't know anything about me!" She yelled. "So stop acting like I'm your daughter and stop making all the decisions for me!"

The man looked up at Rose. He stood up and towered over her.

"All I'm trying to do is try to help. If I were smart, I would have left you and the others alone, but I'm doing this out of the good of my heart, okay? I'm doing this for my son."

Rose squinted at him. "Your son?"

"Zak." He said matter-of-factly. "I know he loves you and all he wants is for you to be safe, so I'm going to make sure you are."

Rose's eyes grew wide. "You're Zak's dad?"

He nodded. "So why did you take me in the night? Why didn't you just tell him whatever it is that you're doing?"

"Zak and I don't really get along." He huffed.

Rose looked down at the ground. "Why?"

"I was never a really good father." Zak's dad said. "I was never home and when I was, I was locked away in my room stressing about work. I left him alone to survive life with his brother. His whole life was spent with me locked away, and when my business failed, I would rarely ever be around _anyone_ because I was so ashamed."

Rose listened with full attention. Zak had a brother? He had a suck childhood?

"Did you know he worked for A?" Rose asked.

He shook his head. "I didn't talk to him that much, and as a result, he didn't tell me anything about his life."

"So what got you so interested in him?" Rose asked as she leaned against a tree.

"I thought he was murdered and I suddenly got interested."

"How did you even know where to look?"

"When you want to know something bad enough, you can find it pretty easily." He said. He looked down and the ground. "I dug into his case and saw that your friend Kara was arrested for his murder, so of course, I dug up the dirt up on her. I read about her parents and their past and Kara seemed like a genuinely nice girl, so I gave her a visit in jail. Her story was the same as what I could find, and she just didn't seem like a killer, so I tried to help her escape but… I guess it wasn't successful."

Rose crossed her arms. "How did you find out who A was so easily?"

He laughed. "It's actually pretty obvious. You just have to look closely."

Rose looked at him. Its was getting her pretty annoyed that he kept claiming that everything involving A was easy. Its been a year of her trying to figure out who A was and every time she got close, something happened to her or her family. She tried to get her mind away from the anger.

"I still don't know your name." She asked

"After everything I just said, all you want to ask about is my name?"

Rose nodded.

He sighed. "Jonathan Brighton."

She smiled. "It fits."

He looked back at the fire.

"So what's this plan that you have?" Rose asked.

"Wait 'til A is at their lowest point, then run in and get them. Simple as that."

Rose was confused. "What do you mean by 'get them?'"

"I'm not too sure myself." He answered. "My goal is to just tie them up and drag them to the police, but if worse comes to worse. I'll kill her myself."

Rose felt her stomach drop. "What happens if you kill them? You can go to jail for that."

Johnathan shook his head. "I haven't gotten that far yet." He grabbed leaves off the ground and threw them in the fire. They immediately caught a flame. "But I need to hurry up since were doing it tonight."

Rose's eyes opened wide. "Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight. Your friend Zoe was able to call her boyfriend from the building earlier today, and you can bet that A is going to try to move the others before anyone can find out where their location is. Running off with three hostages isn't going to be easy, so that's when we'll step in."

She felt her heart beat get faster. "So what are we going to do?"

"Well, you should know by now that A is pretty unpredictable, so it's kind of hard to come up with a plan beforehand. So we'll follow them, see how A is moving them, and then we'll sneak in. I'll try to shoot them in the leg so they can't walk, but if I have too, I won't hesitate to shoot her in the chest."

Rose nodded. She cracked her bony fingers to distract herself from the fact that she was scared out of her mind.

What if A knew that Rose and Jonathan were going to do this? What if they planned for this to happen and once the two get out there, A will kill Jonathan and take Rose?

Despite all of her doubt, she told him, "Okay."

"Good." He replied. "Now, let's get moving."

"We're leaving _now_?" Rose asked in shock.

"Well of course!" Jonathan said as if it was obvious. "It's going to take half a day to get there."

Rose swallowed and said nothing. She allowed him to gather the little supplies that they had left and put the fire out.

He turned to Rose and took a deep breath. "You ready?" He asked.

Rose nodded. "Yes." She said with little confidence.

"You're going to be fine." He said with a smile. He then patted her on the shoulder. "You're with me."

She looked at his face as he touched her bony shoulder. He did feed her three meals a day, but it was usually a few pieces of beef jerky, crackers and a cup of water, so Rose wasn't getting skinnier, but she also wasn't gaining back much of her weight.

He turned away from her and she followed behind in his footsteps for what felt like forever.

They didn't speak that much. Every once and a while he would turn around and ask 'Are you good?' or 'Do you need to stop?' and every time Rose said no.

The faster Jonathan and Rose got to Zoe, Kara, Anna and A, the faster they could all be free.

It was nightfall when Jonathan finally stopped moving. He held a hand out to block Rose from moving.

"Were here." He said. He took a few cautious steps forwards and stepped through a row of trees. Rose followed.

When she emerged from all the leaves, she felt her heart stop. She was standing in front of the building.

 **John's auto equipment!**

She read again.

She looked at Jonathan. He was looking up at the sign with a sad look.

"That business you said that failed." Rose said. "Was it for auto equipment?"

He nodded slightly. "I still check up on the building every once and a while, and when I saw that my security cameras were torn out of the walls, I knew something was up."

Rose laughed a quiet laugh.

"What are you laughing about?" Jonathan asked.

"I just think it's funny that A didn't even bother to check up on the place. They just saw that it was abandoned and thought it was good enough. Little did they know it belonged to the father of one of their previous minions."

Jonathan frowned. "They already left." He said, ignoring what Rose had just said.

"How do you know?"

"Because if A was still her, they would have killed us already."

Rose looked up at the building. "That's nice to know."

Jonathan nodded his head to the left. "Let's go."

"How do you know where to go?" Rose asked before he walked off.

Jonathan pointed to the ground. "They left tracks."

Rose looked to where he pointed and sure enough, she saw a set of four tracks. One sturdy, three wobbly.

Four tracks. One was missing.

When Rose left there were four people still in the building. A, Anna, Kara, Zoe and Daniel.

And if one was missing then who…?

"They're all alive." Jonathan said as if he read Rose's mind. "The Daniel kid didn't come."

Rose looked at him. "Why?"

"He was the one who helped Zoe get to the phones, and A didn't like that so…" Jonathan explained.

"A killed him?" Rose asked.

Jonathan lifted his shoulders up. "No clue."

Rose looked back at the building. There was something wrong.

Why would Daniel help Zoe? Other than A, he was probably the most frightening human being in Rosewood. And after all, he did…do things…to Zoe, so why did she trust him?

Things must be _really_ messed up there.

Jonathan took a step forwards and Rose went to follow, but then she heard a ticking sound.

"What's that?" She asked.

She watched the blood drain from Jonathan's face as he turned to Rose.

"Run!" He yelled.

"What, why?" Rose asked as she started to back off slowly.

"Just run, I'll be right behind you!" He yelled.

Rose turned around and started to sprint the other way. She heard Jonathan's footsteps running behind her.

A swooshing sound sounded and Rose was too scared to look at what it was. She heard whatever was flying at them connect with trees. She felt her heart race and her body start to ache, but she wouldn't dare stop running.

She heard something swoosh by the back of her head, and if she was a second behind, it would have hit her in her.

She heard another swoosh and then a gross squishing sound. She head a grunt come from Jonathan's mouth and then a thump on the ground.

Rose kept running, but she knew something had happened.

She kept running until she heard the sounds stop. She stopped and looked around. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen.

"Jonathan!" Rose yelled to the trees. "Where are you?"

There was no response.

She took cautious steps over to where she heard the thump, and she stopped when she saw what was flying at them.

There was a tree in front of Rose with two arrows sticking out of them.

A must have set up a trap with a motion sensor or something, and when Jonathan took the step, the arrows were released.

Rose continued to walk to where she last saw Jonathan.

"Rose!"

She stopped and stood in place.

The voice was definitely male, but it was one she hadn't heard before.

"Rose, don't move!" The voice called again.

Rose had no idea what was going on and she had no idea who this person was, but she was scared that of she moved, the arrows would release again.

So, she listened to the voice.

She saw a figure start to form in the distance and her heartrate sped up as they got closer.

When they got into view, Rose felt her heart drop into her stomach.

It looked like Zak, but it wasn't. He was a lot shorter and his face was rounder. Plus, his brown eyes weren't as warm.

"You're Zak's brother." Rose said more than she asked.

"And you're Rose." He said when he stood in front of Rose. "The girl my brother has fallen head over heels in love with."

Rose felt her cheeks get red.

"He's talked a lot about you." Zak's brother said. He put his hands on his hips.

"And he's spoken nothing about you."

The boy smiled. "Well, I'm Nick. Zak's _older_ brother by two minutes." He put an emphasis on the word 'older.'

"So what are you doing here?" Rose asked.

"Well, there's this plan that Zak has and my part of the plan is to make sure you're safe before I get the signal."

Rose scrunched up her eyebrows. "What plan?" She asked. "What signal?"

"Well, Zak right now is talking to all the parents and he's going to try to convince them to help. Once he can get their help, he's going to bring them here. From there, we can surround A, get them, and save the girls."

Rose stared at Nick, still confused.

Nick saw the confusion. "Zoe was able to call Cory and A is going to move everyone before anyone can find them, so right now-"

Rose cut him off. "I know. Moving three hostages is going to be difficult so it's the best time to attack. I've already been told."

Nick stared at Rose with a confused look. "Who told you?"

"You don't know?" Rose asked.

Nick shook his head.

Rose loosened her tense body. "Your dad told me."

Nick's eyes widened. "He's who took you? It was my job to steal you back but I thought you escaped by yourself but…what did he say?"

Rose swallowed. She remembered how he said that he was a terrible father, but she wouldn't mention that. "He said that Zak didn't know what he was doing."

Nick smiled a hurt smile. "That sounds like something he would say."

"He loved you both." Rose said defensively. "He knows he wasn't a good father and he regrets it."

Nick darted his eyes from Rose to the ground. "So where is he now?"

Rose looked over Nick's shoulder at the tree with the arrows. "The last I saw him was when we were running away from the arrows." She said.

"Arrows?"

Rose nodded at the tree and Nick looked at it.

"A set up some trap to have arrows shoot at us. Your dad told me to run so I did. He was behind me at first but I heard a thud and…" She trialed off. She didn't want to say it.

Nick turned to Rose with sadness in his eyes. "Take me to him."

Rose nodded and walked carefully to the spot where she heard him fall. She saw a big lump in the ground that wasn't moving.

Rose closed her eyes when she got closer. "He's right there."

Nick ran up to him. "Dad?" He asked.

There wasn't a response.

"Dad!" Nick called again. "Oh my god." Nick cried when he got to the body.

Rose kept her eyes closed as she listened to the quiet sobs from Nick.

She opened one eye and looked at the body and she soon regretted it. There were two arrows in Jonathan's body. One was stuck in his left leg, and the other went clean through his head. Blood was still pouring from the wound.

Rose turned and looked away from the body. If she looked at it for another second, she was scared that she was going to puke.

Nick stormed up to Rose. "Why didn't you help him?" He asked angrily.

Rose looked at him. "There were arrows flying at me!" She yelled back. "And I don't think I would have been able to save him anyways." She said, indicating the arrow in his head.

Nick grunted loudly and punched the tree right next to Rose's face.

"Dammit!" He yelled as she held his fist. He looked over at Jonathan's body and then at the ground.

"Let's go." He said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"I said let's go." Nick said as he started to walk off.

Rose stood in place and looked at Nick's back as he walked off. "You don't want to say anything?"

Nick kept walking. "What's the point? It's not like he would hear me."

Rose felt her heart rip in half as he said that. She tried her best to get her head out of this sad place, but she just saw a dead body.

She had been with Jonathan for a month. He kept her safe and always put her first.

She let Nick walk off. She would catch up to him. She couldn't just leave Jonathan here.

She turned to his body and kept her eyes shut.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." She started. "It shouldn't have happened. I haven't known you for long, but for the short month we spent together, you always put me first. And I know you think that you aren't a good father, but I want you to know that you are an amazing one. You told me just a few hours before you died that you were helping me because Zak loved me. You risked your life trying to make your son happy, and sadly, you had to die because of that. You knew a lot about what was going on with A and everything, and you never got around to telling everything that you knew, but I do know that you have inspired me, Jonathan. You protected me and you barely knew who I was. You did it for the good of your son, and that's one of the bravest things you can do. I'm not going to give up because of you. A isn't going to get away with this and I'll make sure they end up behind bars. Not just for my wellbeing but for Anna, Kara and Zoe's as well. Hell, I'm going to do this for Zak, and for Nick…and for you." Rose felt a tear run down her face. "Thanks again. Thanks for _everything_ you have done to protect us." Her voice cracked on her final word.

She opened her eyes and started at his body. She wiped the tear from her face and turned around and saw Nick was turned around and was staring at Rose. Tears were running down his face as well.

"Thanks." He said in a low tone.

Rose nodded her head slightly. "You're welcome."

He looked down at the ground. "Come on." He said sadly.

Rose took a deep breath and started to walk to him.

She had no idea what was going to happen next, but she did know that she felt satisfied with herself.

And she knew that this would be hard without Jonathan.

But she could do it.

She could.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, so there was that.**

 **Again, I** _ **really**_ **enjoyed writing this and I'm excited to write more.**

 **And I want you all to know that this story is most likely going to end in the next month :(**

 **I don't want it too, but it unfortunately has too.**

 **Also, I kind of want to do another youtube video. I'm thinking I might want to do something where you guys tell me a specific chapter and I'll read it and review it and we can all laugh at how bad I was at writing back then.**

 **Just let me know if you are willing to see that, or tell me something else I can do.**

 **Also... this was the 50th chapter! Wow! Fifty dang chapters. I'm insane xD**

 **Alright, I'll see you maybe next week.**

 **Thanks again, loves!**

 **-Jessica**


	51. RoAd Trip

**AN: Hi guys!**

 **Wardamad, Regishale2007 and tvfanatic0928 followed and favorited while abookofstories favorited.**

 **Thank you all so much!**

 **As usual I don't have anything else to say so enjoy!**

* * *

After two cups of water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Zak finally sat down and begin to tell the group what was going on.

"I had no idea where the girls were." Zak began. "I just knew that they were somewhere far from Rosewood, so that's where I started."

Aria listened to every word cautiously. Zak had mentioned earlier that he was with Rose, but where was she now? Did he have any clue to where she was?

"I went to this little town, I'm not quite sure what the name was, and I started to ask around about anything suspicious. Most of the people had said that nothing strange was going on and I was about to head to the next town when a hunter started to knock on my hotel door."

Aria looked around at everyone in the room. They were all bug eyed and holding their breaths. It was safe to say that Aria looked like that too. She grabbed onto Ezra's hand as Zak continued.

"He seemed a little spooked and was really jittery, but he pointed me towards this old abandoned factory. He said that he heard noises coming from it and he could have sworn he saw someone burying what looked like a body bag close to the building that morning."

Aria, along with everyone else, remained silent.

"The only abandoned factory in the woods is this place called "John's auto equipment", so I got over there as soon as possible. I carefully checked all the doors into the building and they were all locked and it was incredibly quiet, but the air smelled of something foul. I followed the smell to a dirt patch and I began to dig it up. I saw brown hair peaking from the bag and I began to worry."

Aria held her breath. Rose's hair was black, but it sometimes looked brown in certain lighting.

"I opened the bag and saw that it was Chelsey Nestler." Zak explained.

"Chelsey Nestler?" Spencer questioned. She was the first to speak in a long time. "Anna talked about her. She said how much of a bitch she was a few times but that was it."

Zak nodded. "Well, I don't know what she was doing there, but she had a gunshot wound in her chest. Someone shot her."

"It was obviously A." Spencer said strictly.

Zak just raised his eyebrows and continued his story.

What was that supposed to mean?

"I knew from what the hunter said and from the body that A was definitely in the building with the girls, and I couldn't just storm in, so I snuck back into the woods to try to figure something out…but I ran into someone."

"Rose." Ezra said before Aria could. "You said you were with her."

Zak nodded again. "She was spastic about how I was alive and we argued for a few minutes, but I noticed that she was covered in blood, so I asked who's it was and she said it was Chelsey's. She then said…" Zak trailed off. He eyed Spencer and Toby with cautious eyes. "She said that Anna shot her."

Spencer and Toby's jaws both fell. "Excuse me?" Spencer asked.

"I didn't question her about it. It didn't matter at the moment because the only thing I was focused on was keeping her safe. But whatever Anna did helped because Rose got out."

Spencer shook her head. "Anna would never kill anyone." Toby grabbed her hand for support, still with a shocked look on his face.

Aria turned to Zak. "Continue."

"I took the tracker out of her neck so A couldn't track her down and then I led her to a camp I had set up."

Aria looked over at Hanna, Caleb and Mona. "That must be why Rose didn't show up with the tracker information and why she had no heart monitor."

Hanna nodded her head. "And Anna, she was alive when she shot Chelsey, so she must have somehow gotten her tracker out too."

"She didn't kill her." Spencer mumbled under her breath.

Aria felt a weight lift off her chest. Rose was okay? Well, she was so far. Zak wasn't done with his story yet.

"I told Rose that I was going to take her back here, and from there we would come up with a plan to get the others out, but that night, I fell asleep with Rose at my side and when I woke up, she was gone."

Aria's heart did a backflip and she felt Ezra's hand start to shake.

"Well, where is she?" Aria asked.

Zak shook his head. "I don't know." He said sadly. "But I sent my brother out to find her while I talked to you. She is obviously still in the woods because if she stepped anywhere out in the open, someone would recognize her as one of the four missing girls that's all over the news. So Nick is out there right now and the last time I spoke to him, he said he found her and some other footprints stumbling through the woods."

"Some other footprints?" Alison asked with her hand on her heart. "As in someone has her?"

Zak nodded. "But they haven't done anything to her which is a plus, and Nick thinks that he can easily get her back."

Aria took a deep breath. Rose was gone, but they could get her back. Or, what if the footprints weren't even Rose's? People hunted in those woods all the time, what if the prints were from a father and his giddy young son hoping around because he made his first kill?

What if Rose was… _shiver_ …Dead? Aria silently shunned herself as she thought that.

"So why are you here with us?" Mona asked from across the room.

"Because A knows that Zoe was able to call Cory, and they know that you and Caleb will be able to track the number and they know that they can be busted soon. And because of all that, A is going to move the other three girls."

Aria felt like she was going to faint. She walked over to the couch and sat on the armrest. Ezra was soon at her side and he began to rub figure eights into her back.

"Continue." Emily urged.

"You all have had the most experience with A, and you know how to defeat them. With a whole army on our side, we'll be able to take A down and get the girls back. All we need to do is surround A and hit them before they even know what's coming."

Aria took a minute to process what Zak had just said.

"You want us to come with you to A's lair and fight them?" She asked.

Zak nodded. "With all of us fighting, we can do it."

Aria looked around the room at everyone's faces. They all looked shocked.

Aria heard the clanking of heels and Aria turned her head to see Mona walking towards the front door quickly.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Aria turned to Mike.

"Where's Mona going?" She whispered into his ear.

Mike looked at Aria with a confused face. He then looked around and noticed that she was gone.

"I don't know." He said back after a while.

Aria stared at Mike with raised eyebrows. "Well, go find her."

He nodded slightly as he walked off to go find her.

Aria turned back the group. "Don't you think this is a little dangerous?" She asked.

"Our lives have been filled with danger ever since we were juniors, Aria." Spencer said in monotone.

Aria looked around at everyone else. Hanna made eye contact with Aria and mouthed "We all need to talk about this."

Aria nodded and looked at Emily. Emily made eye contact and Aria nodded at the hallway that led to the kitchen. Emily caught on.

"I think we all need to talk about this." Emily said aloud. "Alone."

Zak and the other guys looked hurt, but they also seemed to understand.

"Go ahead." Ezra said to Aria. She squeezed his hand one last time and let go.

She followed the group of girls down the hallway and Aria quickly sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"This is crazy." She said when they were all in the kitchen.

"It could work though." Hanna muttered.

"We always think something will work, but we always end up hurt or killing someone." Alison said.

Aria looked down at the table and remembered how she had shot Shana in New York. It still guilted her to this day, and she never got around to telling Rose about it.

"It's the only thing we've got." Spencer said.

Aria rested her head in her hands. "I think it's crazy."

"You're only saying that because you don't know if A has Rose." Hanna said rudely.

Aria shot her head up and glared at Hanna. "Excuse me?"

"Zak said that he had no idea where Rose was and he sent his brother to find her, but who knows if he did? She isn't with the others and this plan is benefiting them and leaving Rose out." Hanna explained.

Aria stood up and stormed over to Hanna. Hanna towered over her, but Aria didn't care. How dare she say that?

"Are you insane?" Aria snarled. "I care about _everyone's_ safety, not just Rose's. And in my honest opinion, I think that this is crazy. If we are going to confront the psychopath that kidnapped our children, then I think we should have the police with us, and not just Toby, and don't you _dare_ use my child as an excuse for not wanting to go through with the plan!"

Hanna stared at Aria, her expression barely changing. "I'm sorry I said that, Aria." She said. "But I think that the plan is the best thing we've got."

"I do think that we should have the police with us." Emily blurted in. "It would be nice to have backup."

"I do too." Alison said.

"Same." Came Spencer.

Aria looked at all of them and thanked them with her eyes.

Hanna looked at Aria and took a step back. "Fine." She said slightly warmer. "If it will make you okay with it, we can call the cops."

"Already done." Said Mona's voice.

Aria turned around and saw Mona standing in the hallway with her phone in her hand.

"Where were you?" Aria asked.

Mona took a few steps forwards. "This whole situation has gotten _way_ out of hand." She began. "So I left to call the police and told them everything that we knew. I left out all the sketchy stuff, so the only thing they know is that we got a hint that the girls would be somewhere near John's auto equipment and I said that we're going to get them and we would like them to be there."

Aria blinked slowly. "When did you tell them that we would be there?"

Mona took a deep breath. "In the morning. They're going there now to check the building out, but they aren't going to attack unless they _see_ A."

"That's barely enough time to come up with a plan what-so-ever!" Spencer cried out.

"Oh, Spencer, did you forget you were with me?" Mona said in a high pitched tone. "I was the _original_ A and I knew things about you all that you didn't even know yourselves. I know about this A, and I know their weaknesses and I know how to get to them, so if you stick with me, you'll have your kids in your arms in just a few hours."

Aria gaped at Mona. "Do you know who A is?"

An uncomfortable look passed over Mona's face, but it quickly changed back to its professional look. "I have my suspicions."

"Who is your suspicion?" Hanna asked.

"If I told you, you would ask why and it would take a _long_ time to explain."

Aria took slow breaths. "Whatever." She said shaking her head. "You can explain after we have the girls."

Mona nodded. "Good idea."

Spencer looked down at her watch. "We should go tell the boys what's going on."

"Okay." Aria peeped.

Everyone nodded and walked back to the boys. When the girls got in the room, everyone stared at them with questioning looks.

"We have a few hours." Mona said.

Looks of confusion spread across the room as Mona explained how she called the police. Mike was now in the room too, looking the most confused.

Aria wished she could just tell Mike to leave and go home, but Mike was Aria's younger brother, and Rose was his niece, and Aria couldn't tell him what to do anymore. He had a kid of his own too, so he knew what Aria was going through.

Mona finished explaining and silence filled the room.

"Any thoughts, questions or concerns?" Mona asked.

Silence.

"Great." Mona said with a small smile. "Everyone needs to prepare themselves before we leave. Who knows how this night will end."

Aria hoped that it would end with A behind bars and Rose, along with everyone else, in their mothers arms.

But then again, things rarely ever went Aria's way.

But maybe…just maybe… tonight could be an exception.

* * *

 **Earlier that day**

Kara had absolutely no idea what was going on.

In one moment, she fell asleep on the cold floor of her cell and then next she was being hauled to her feet with her hands and feet tied.

She now sat in a room that she had never been in before, it was colorful, with lots of shades of blue and pink splattered all over the wall. She wondered which door in the room of doors that this room was in.

She sat on a pink bench, her wrists and ankles tied. Her heart was beating at what A was going to do to her and the others.

The door flung open and A walked in with Anna dragging behind her. Unlike Kara, Anna was fighting back. Kara had no idea how Anna had the strength to do so, Kara could barely stand up by herself without any support.

A grabbed Anna's arms and shoved her towards Kara. Kara scooted over as fast as she could as Anna's body flung at her.

Anna hit the bench with a loud _thud_ and a grunt escaped her lips.

"Are you okay?" Kara asked when Anna got herself upright.

A slammed the door shut angrily as Anna turned to Kara.

"I'm fine. Have you seen Zoe?" Anna asked as she gasped for breath.

Kara shook her head. "Not since she was whipped."

She still had no idea how Zoe was able to take that beating. She had no idea on how many times Zoe was hit, but Kara lost count at around twenty.

Anna tried to undo her bindings but it didn't work. "I swear to god, if A did something to her…"

"She's fine." Kara interjected.

"How do you know?"

"I just know." Kara answered strictly. She was not going to jump to conclusions, not now.

Kara had faith that they were all going to get out of here, and fast. After the long month of them being here, Kara has begun to notice the patters A did.

She noticed things, like how A couldn't handle them all at once. They seemed to get overwhelmed, so when A did something, she did it separately. So if all the girls could get in one room together, they could probably take A down. The only issue was that when they _were_ in the same room, they were all tired down or too exhausted to do something.

The door burst open again and a bloodied Zoe flopped in.

Kara stared at her with wide eyes. There was a wrap around her back that was blood red.

"Oh my god, Zoe!" Anna called. "Are you okay?"

Zoe didn't reply.

Kara scooted closed to Anna as A threw Zoe down next to Kara on the bench carelessly.

Once Zoe was down, Kara realized that she was unconscious. At least she hoped she was.

"What did you do to her?" Kara called out in horror.

A didn't reply. They only walked back out the door.

Once A was gone, Kara turned to Zoe.

"Zoe!" Kara called. She shook her with her bound hands. "Zoe, wake up!"

Kara turned to Anna quickly. "She won't wake up." She said frantically.

Anna leaned forwards and looked at Zoe's body with fear, but a look of calm washed over it.

"She's alive." Anna said in a low tone.

"How do you know?" Kara asked as she looked back at Zoe.

"Look at her chest." Anna explained. "It's moving and that means she's breathing."

"I know what it means!" Kara yelled furiously. She looked at Zoe's chest and she saw it going up and down very slowly.

She looked at Zoe up and down. Her back was red with both dry blood and fresh blood. A few scars peaked out from under her wrap and Kara saw how deep the wounds was.

She cringed as she saw the scars.

Kara also noticed that Zoe's leg brace was on.

"She has her leg brace on." Kara told Anna.

"So?"

"It's been off ever since we were put on the carousel, so why is it on now?"

Anna's face was filled with confusion. "I don't know."

"Because A's moving us." Came Zoe's small voice.

Kara shot her neck over and looked at Zoe. She stayed still as she lied down on the bench, but her eyes were now open.

"What?" Anna asked as Kara remained silent.

A small smile spread on her lips. "Believe it or not, but Daniel helped me. He got me into a room full of phones and I was able to call Cory."

Kara's eyes grew wide and her heart dropped. "You did what?"

"He has definitely gone to our parents and the police by now, and they can track the call and they can find us, so A is moving us." Zoe explained in a scratchy voice.

Kara's mouth hung open.

"So we can get out?" Anna asked with hope in her voice. "The police know the area that we are in, and if A moves us the police can just search the area and find us."

Zoe nodded slightly. "Hopefully."

The door opened and Kara looked at A with smite in her eyes. "Got you, bitch." She said.

A stormed up to Kara and backhanded her across the face. Kara grunted and the slap hurt, but it was worth it.

A grabbed Kara's hands and forced her up. She tied a chain around her restraints and connected it to Anna's and then Zoe's.

A tugged on the chain a little and it jerked Kara forwards. Anna grunted behind her and Zoe cried out.

The chain line reminded Kara of jail. This was the exact way Victoria moved her around.

Kara would much rather be there than here.

A tugged on the chain again and Kara looked behind her again. Zoe was still lying down, but she hung off the side of the bench.

"Get up, Zoe." Kara said calmly.

"I can't." Zoe groaned.

"You have to try." Anna added.

"I can't feel my back." Zoe said as a tear ran down her face.

Kara felt her heart break at Zoe's voice. "Just try."

A stormed over to Zoe and angrily assisted her to her feet. A wrapped their arm around Zoe's back and forced her to her feet.

Zoe cried out in pain at A's touch.

Kara watched as Zoe got to her feet and wobbled around when she stood. There was no way she was going to be able to walk for very long.

A tugged on the chain and forced Kara to move a few steps forwards and from Kara moving, Anna had to move and from Anna moving, Zoe had to move.

A slowly led them out of the room or doors and out through the hallways. Kara noticed that it was the middle door in the right wall.

It was silent as the three made their way through the building. The only sound came from the girls scuffling feet and the quiet groans each girl, mainly Zoe, made.

"Where are we going?" Kara asked.

As usual, A didn't say anything. They just tugged on the chains faster.

Kara felt her legs start to wobble, but she tried her best to ignore it. If she fell down, she was scared at what A would do to her.

The girls went through another door and started walking through a large room. Kara recognized it as the room that their cells looked out into.

A foul odor a wafted through the room and Kara tried her best to pinpoint where the smell came from.

She turned her head and saw a big lump of something in the corner. It didn't take Kara long to figure out that it was Daniel.

He was slumped over in the corner, bloodied and motionless. A probably killed him, and Kara felt a twinge of pain. He was an asshole for the most part, but he helped Zoe make the phone call. That was probably the _one_ good thing he has ever done in his life.

"Is he dead?" Zoe asked from the back of the group.

A didn't respond. They looked forwards and kept walking.

They walked across the room and stopped at the garage-like door that Rose was able to escape through. A took the chain that the girls were connected too and tied it to a metal pole on the wall. They glared at Kara and wagged their finger back and forth, signaling for Kara not to do anything.

Kara nodded. It's not like she would be able to do anything anyways.

A let go of Kara's chain and grabbed onto the chain that lifted up the door. They pulled it and the door lifted up with a loud squeak.

Kara squinted her eyes as the sunlight shone through the room. When her eyes adjusted, Kara felt like she could cry. It had been over a month since the last time she had seen sunlight.

A grabbed Kara's chain again and drug them outside. Kara, along with the others, fumbled over the uneven ground for ten minutes before someone said anything.

"Can we please stop?" Zoe moaned.

Kara looked behind her shoulder and saw that Zoe was barely standing upright.

A tugged on the chain as a response.

"She needs to stop." Kara said strictly. "Were starving and weak so give us a break."

A turned around and shook their head no.

Anna grunted. "I can't wait until the day you're behind bars."

A stared at her and did nothing. You could tell that A's eyes were piercing Anna through the mask.

They turned around and kept walking.

Kara remembered how A was at a weak point right now. A _never_ did anything with all the girls at once, and there was no way that they would be able to handle anything the girls did.

So, Kara decided it was time to spark the rebellion.

She flopped to the ground and sat there. Anna bumped into her and stopped.

"What are you doing?" She whispered down to Kara.

"Follow my lead." Kara whispered back.

Anna looked back up at A, but she didn't sit down. A look of fear was in her eyes.

"Anna, if we all sit down, A can't move us." Kara whispered again.

At this point, A was turned around and standing over Kara. Their fist was raised, ready to hit Kara if necessary.

Zoe thankfully got the idea and flopped down. A sigh of relief escaped her lips and A looked down at her. You could see their body start to tense up.

Anna looked at both Kara and Zoe with wide eyes. She rolled them as she sat down. "I'm blaming you when A kills us." Anna said sarcastically as she sat down.

Kara looked up at A and grinned. "Now what are you going to do?"

A looked down at the girls with their fists balled. They took a deep breath, deep enough to where Kara could hear her exhale, and lifted their hand up with five fingers out.

 _Five minutes_ A was saying.

They tied the chain to a tree stump and walked off far enough to where they wouldn't be able to hear the girl's conversations.

Kara turned to the others. "When is our rescue team coming, Zoe?" She asked frantically.

Zoe lifted her shoulders up and down. "I don't know." She said sadly. "Soon hopefully."

Anna sighed. "Who knows were A's taking us," She said, "We could be there in five minutes or we can be there in five hours. Once we're there, how are we going to get any contact with our parents or the cops? A is going to strengthen their security and the only way out will be to kill ourselves!" She finished frantically.

Kara stared at Anna with a sad look. "You've got to have hope." She said calmly.

"I've given up on hope a long time ago." Anna grunted. "It's done nothing for me."

"You're still alive aren't you?" Kara said as she lifted up her eyebrows.

Anna sighed. "How are we going to distract A long enough to keep us in the woods?"

Kara thought about it. "Just trust me when I do something." She said as A started to walk back.

A got to them and tugged at the chain and Kara and the others reluctantly got up. Anna had to help Zoe because she kept falling over.

They started walking for another mile or two when Anna whispered into Kara's ear.

"What's your plan?" She asked.

Kara shook her head. "I can't say yet." She whispered back.

The truth was, Kara did have a plan, a damn good one too, but she had to wait for the right moment, and she wouldn't be doing it until much later.

Her plan was _insane_ and she would probably never forgive herself after it, but it was what needed to be done.

Anna sighed and kept walking.

Kara remained silent for another three hours. Zoe spoke and broke the silence.

"I'm starving." She whined.

The four were passing under an apple tree, so A reached out and picked a ripe one. She then chucked it at Zoe and she somehow caught it.

With the apple in her hands, she looked up at A. "Thanks?" She said.

Kara kept her eyes forwards and kept walking.

She had to find out the best way to do her plan, so she studied the back of A. She noticed that A was a little bit taller than her, so Kara would have to go on her tiptoes, and A had strong shoulder muscles, so she would have to pull _hard._

Kara knew she could do it, but she wasn't sure if she would have the strength.

More time passed and the sky turned from day to night. The only light came from the stars and the moon. Kara had no idea how A was able to keep track on where they were going.

Kara turned at the sound of a snapping twig behind her and she shot her head back. Anna and Zoe had heard it too, because they were turned around also.

Kara looked at the darkness between the trees, but she didn't see anyone. She tripped over a large branch as she turned her head back. She quickly regained her balance and kept walking.

Kara kept hearing little fits of movement, like a twig snapping, or leaves rustling, but she wouldn't turn around to look at it.

If she did, Kara could blow the person's cover, but it was obvious that someone was following them.

Kara's heart beat fast as she realized that this person could be a cop or something. Had they found them?

There was a loud stomp as the person stepped over the branch that Kara tripped over, and Kara cringed at the sound.

A _definitely_ should have heard that, but they made no acknowledgement to the noise.

Was A deaf, or did they not care?

Something didn't seem right.

"Stop!" A voice called.

A stopped and Kara almost ran into them. She felt her heart beat even faster as someone stepped out in front of them.

"Walk away, now." Zak said as he came out of the shadows with a flashlight in his hand.

A was silent.

"This is your last chance, A." Zak continued. "If you take another step, you're going to be sorry, so if I were you, I would drop the girls' chain and walk away."

A stood there and glared at Zak. Kara leaned over A's shoulder and looked at Zak. He made eye contact with her and gave her a hopeful look. Her heart rate sped down a little.

It was silent as A slowly reached over to the nearest tree and tied the chain to it.

Kara was in a daze when A did this and she silently shunned herself as she realized that she should have done her plan then. It was the perfect time and she messed it up.

A put their hands up and slowly walked over to Zak.

"Follow me." Zak said when A reached them.

"What the hell is going on?" Anna whispered to herself.

"Kara, what's your plan?" Zoe asked.

Kara turned around and looked at their tired faces.

"Forget it." She said. "It wouldn't work."

Despair fell over their faces. "But who cares, Zak's here and he's going to get us out." Kara said with confidence.

"It's too easy." Anna said as she looked at Zak and A walking off. "A wouldn't give up that easily."

Kara felt her stomach flip as she realized that. A was a stubborn jack ass, and it was weird that they just walked away from that. But hopefully they realized that they were screwed and that there was no way that A would be able to move the girls anymore and they were smart and gave up.

Kara watched them go down a cliff, and they were almost out of sight, but more lights came into view.

There were at least six lights that formed a circle around A, and the light illuminated everyone's faces.

Kara felt a sweat run down her face as she saw a familiar flash of blond hair.

"Oh my god." She said as her voice cracked.

"What?" Zoe questioned. She was in the back and she could barely see anything.

Kara continued to stare at her, her heart pounding.

"It's my mom." Kara said as a tear fell down her face.

Anna and Zoe gasped as Kara spoke.

Kara looked to the left of her mother and saw the familiar dark brown head of hair.

"And my dad." Kara added.

She looked around the circle and saw many familiar faces that made her heart ache.

"Your parents are here too, Anna." Kara said as she saw Toby and Spencer's scared faces.

"Yours too, Zoe." She saw Emily and Alison with wet cheeks.

Aria and Ezra were there too, looking around. They were probably looking for Rose.

"They're all here." Kara said with hope. "And they have A surrounded."

Kara turned around and saw that both Anna and Zoe were crying too, and they had big smiles on their faces.

Kara turned back around and looked at her mom and dad with a huge smile on her face.

She was so excited, that she didn't see A pull something out of their pocket.

"They're here." Kara said. "They're going to-"

 _BOOM!_

* * *

 **AN: AHHHHHHH CLIFFHANGER!**

 **Okay, I know that the timing in this chapter is confusing, but Aria's perspective took place right after the ending of the last chapter, and Kara's starts that morning. Kara's perspective starts a few hours after Zoe's ended in the last chapter and at that point, Rose is walking along the woods with Johnathan.**

 **Okay...that's _really_ confusing. Let me try again. Lol.**

 **1\. Zoe calls Cory and A knocks her out.**

 **2\. Cory goes to Emily and Alison's and then an hour later, all the parents gather together.**

 **(Remember, Zoe called Cory really early in the morning, like one o'clock.)**

 _ **Around 6 a.m:**_

 **3\. A gets Kara, Anna and an unconscious Zoe into the one room and thee parents are still trying to come up with a plan.**

 **4\. While this is happening, Johnathan is explaing to Rose on how he is Zak's father.**

 **5\. A starts moving Kara, Anna and Zoe.**

 **6\. After an hour, Rose and Jonathan see the footprints and track them.**

 **7\. Zak goes to the parents and explains everything.**

 **8\. During that, Rose and Johnathan are attacked by the arrows and Jonathan is killed.**

 **9\. Noah finds Rose.**

 **10\. Mona calls the cops.**

 **11.. The parents and Zak prepare while Noah and Rose hide out waiting for Zak's signal and A is moving Zoe, Anna and Kara through the woods.**

 **(This lasts the whole day.)**

 _ **Around 3 a.m the next morning.**_

 **12\. The parents venture into the woods with Zak leading them.**

 **13\. Zak finds A and makes them surrender.**

 **14\. Rose and Noah's location is unknown ;)**

 **15\. Zoe, Kara and Anna watch from A hill above, thinking that they are safe.**

 **16\. Boom!**

 **Okay! That was crazy but I hope it cleared it all up for you :)**

 **Also, I know that this is a really weird time to post but I wanted to post on Saturday because today is my birthday! Yay!**

 **So this is my present to you and I hope you enjoyed!**

 **And just a warning, the next chapter is going to be _crazy_ with the perspectives so prepare.**

 **Alright,** **à bientôt!**

 **-Jessica**


	52. The face behind the mAsk

**AN: Alright… I'm just going to warn you now that this chapter is going to be** _ **crazy!**_

 **The perspectives are going to be all over the place because something** _ **humongous**_ **is happening and I want you to know how everyone feels about it.**

 **Twilightislyfe and Ijustsofia followed and favorited. Thanks to you both!**

 **And on with the chapter!**

* * *

 _Boom!_

Rose perked her body up and turned her head towards the sound of the noise.

"What was that?" She asked Nick.

He had a confused look on his face too. "I don't know." He answered. He got up from the log that the two were sitting on and faced the direction of the sound. "It came from where Zak and the others are."

Rose said up so fast that she got whiplash. "So that wasn't part of the plan?"

Nick shook his head. "No."

Rose turned towards the sound and started to march towards it.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked from behind her.

"To the sound, obviously." Rose said as she turned to face Nick.

"Zak didn't send the signal."

 _Boom…boom…boom!_

Rose pinched her eyes shut at the sounds. She noticed that they were slightly different than the first boom. "Screw the damn signal!" She said with gritted teeth. "Obviously something is wrong!"

Nick stared at Rose with a sympathetic look. "My only job is to keep you safe while Zak deals with A and gets the girls back. Once everything is taken care off, he'll give me the signal and I can take you to him and your family."

Rose lifted her shoulders up. "Looks like there may be a slight tear in the plan."

Nick blinked slowly as he reached for the bag on his back. He pulled it off and reached inside it.

"Stay behind me, and if I tell you to stop, you have to stop." He directed as he pulled the item out of the bag.

Rose took a step back when she saw it.

"Why do you have that?" She asked with a shaky voice as she pointed at the gun.

"I thought something like this might happen so I came prepared." Nick said as he tucked the gun in his waistband.

Rose took a deep breath and looked at Nick. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Hopefully I don't have to use it, but if I have too, I _will_ shoot A."

Rose nodded. "I'll have your back." She promised.

"Thanks."

Nick then started walking towards the sound and Rose followed close behind.

She heard _Boom_ after _Boom,_ and each time the sound got louder and louder, signaling that they were getting closer.

Rose tried her best to stay calm, but she could feel her heartbeat in her throat. She was scared, but she couldn't give up now.

She was so close to freedom, and she wasn't going to let her fear get in the way.

* * *

 _Boom!_

Alison's body reacted immediately to the sound. She grabbed Emily's hand and ran to the nearest cover, which was someone's car.

The air began to fill with a white haze, and Alison suddenly couldn't see what was in front of her.

"What the hell was that?" Emily screamed into Alison's ear.

Alison shook her head forgetting that Emily couldn't see her. "I don't know." Alison replied. "It might have been a frag grenade."

"What's that?" Emily yelled again.

Alison felt her hands shaking. "It's a grenade that leaks gas out to block someone's vision. Normally there is some gas in it to kill us but it seems like A forgot that part."

Alison heard Emily open her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, more booms sounded.

 _Boom…boom…boom!_

Except, these booms were different. They sounded like gunshots.

"Oh my god, A is shooting at us." Alison said in a shaky tone.

Emily didn't respond. She just squeezed Alison's hand.

The smoke began to clear up and Alison stupidly stood up and looked over the car.

A had their gun pointed at someone, she couldn't see who, but when A saw Alison's head, they turned towards her and shot.

She shot down just in time. She felt the wind from the bullet blow a strand of hair in her face. Alison felt her heart skip a beat.

"What are we going to do?" Emily called in a high pitched tone.

"I don't know." Alison said.

Not long after she said that, she heard someone yell.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Hanna yelled. She heard her grunt and a loud _thunk_.

Alison looked through the window of the car and saw that Hanna had thrown a rock at A, and it seemed to have hit them in the shoulder.

It distracted them for a second and they stopped firing.

Then someone ran at A.

* * *

Caleb had no idea what the hell he was doing, it was more like an instinct, but it seemed to work.

He and Hanna were scrunched behind a large rock when Hanna found the rock. They didn't really come up with a plan, but they somehow knew what to do.

So Hanna threw the rock, and while A was distracted, Caleb ran at them.

He had no idea what he would do when he got to A, but it didn't matter. As long as the gun was out of A's hand, then the group would have the advantage.

Caleb reached his arms out and tacked A. He flung his body at A and tugged them to the ground.

He pinned them down and stared at the masked face.

A started to fling their arms around widely, but Caleb's body weight was pinning them down pretty well.

Caleb looked and saw that the gun was just out of A's reach.

"Toby!" Caleb yelled. "Get the gun!"

Toby ran from behind his car and launched for the gun. He snatched it up quickly and pointed it at A.

Caleb looked back at A with a smirk.

"Now what are you going to do?" Caleb asked confidently.

A went still for a second, and Caleb grew confused.

A was completely still, they were even holding their breath. Caleb stared at their face and tried to catch movement, but he didn't see any.

"What the-?"

A whipped their feet out and kicked Toby in the shin. Toby cried out in pain and surprise and dropped the gun.

And to add to all the fun, the sudden shift in A's body caused Caleb to lose his balance, and he fell off of A.

A lunged for the gun, and before anyone could do anything, they grabbed it and pointed it at both Caleb and Toby on the ground.

Caleb heard A snicker from under the mask.

He closed his eyes and waited for the gunshot.

* * *

Kara stared down at the scene with teary eyes.

She couldn't really see much, because the boom caused a white haze, but it was starting to clear up now.

When it was fully clear, Kara saw that A was standing out in the open with a gun now in hand.

 _Boom…boom…boom!_

They shot at a car. Kara recognized it as her parents Subaru.

"Kara, what's happening?" Zoe called from behind her.

"A has a gun." She whispered.

"A gun?" Anna and Zoe said at the same time.

Kara nodded her head.

She knew that the parents were screwed, and she had to do something, and then Kara remembered her plan. She could still do it.

She looked around for something that could break her chain, and she saw a pointy rock by Zoe's foot.

"Hand me that rock, Zoe!" Kara yelled.

"Why?"

"Just give me the rock!"

Zoe bent down and grabbed the rock and stood back up with wobbly legs. She handed the rock to Anna and Anna handed the rock to Kara.

Kara knelt down and placed the rock on the ground with the pointy side up.

She looked back up at the scene in front of her and saw Alison's head pop up behind Mr. and Mrs. Fitz's Honda.

A pointed the gun at her head and pulled the trigger and Alison's head quickly disappeared.

Kara gasped loudly as she felt her heart drop.

"What?" Zoe asked frantically behind her.

Kara opened her mouth but words were unable to come out.

Kara felt her heart beat fast as she saw Alison's blond hair flash through the car window.

Good. A _didn't_ blow her brains out.

"Nothing." Kara said as she stared back at the rock.

She began to rub her chain on the rock and a cringe worthy squeaking sound emitted from it.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked.

"Trying to get out, obviously." Kara said as she continued to rub. She was getting nowhere.

"That won't work. Its metal, Kara." Anna said.

Kara ignored her and continued to cut at the metal.

"Fuck you, bitch!"

Kara lifted her head as she heard her mother's voice. She looked up in time to see Hanna throw a rock at A and it successfully hit A in the shoulder and they stopped firing.

Her father than ran at A and tackled them.

"Oh my god." Kara murmured as she changed from rubbing the chain on the rock to slamming the chain down on the rock and hoping that the chain would snap in half.

"This is crazy." Anna said in a low voice.

Kara kept slamming, and she began to see the chain develop a crack.

She looked up again and saw that Toby was now running at Caleb and A and he reached for the gun that A had dropped.

Kara slammed the chain as she looked at what was going on.

Toby pointed the gun at A, but before he could really do anything, A kicked from under Kara's dad and knocked both Caleb and Toby off their feet. They snatched up the gun and pointed it at Caleb and Toby.

"Shit!" Kara yelled as she slammed the chain harder than any time before.

To her surprise, the chain snapped in half and she now had her chain disconnected from the chain line.

Kara stood up and ran at A with no hesitation. She thought that she would never have the opportunity to do her plan, but now was the perfect time.

"Kara, come back!" Anna yelled as Kara ran down the hill towards A and her parents.

"AHHHH!" Kara yelled as she jumped at A. While in the air, Kara formed her chain into a loop and wrapped it around A's neck.

She landed back on the ground with the chain successfully around A's neck, and she yanked as tight as she could.

A was yanked back, and they grabbed for the chain, but Kara was so full of adrenaline right now, that there was no way that A would get Kara to let go of the chain.

She heard her mother sob. "Kara!" She yelled.

She felt all the parent's eyes on her, but she didn't look away from A. She wouldn't let go until the bitch was dead.

"Oh my god!" Caleb called, but still, Kara didn't let go.

"Get the gun!" Kara yelled as she pulled tighter.

Nobody moved.

"Get the dam gun!" Kara yelled.

Caleb jerked up from the ground and grabbed the gun out of A's hand.

Kara felt A start to go limp, and they fell to their knees. A strange gurgling sound was coming out of A's mouth.

A's body went fully limp, and the only thing that was keeping them upright was Kara's lock on A's neck.

Hanna ran up to Kara and stared at her with an emotion that Kara couldn't quite explain.

"Let go, honey." Hanna said in the sweetest voice.

Tears began to fill her eyes. "No!" She yelled.

"Kara, you'll kill them." Caleb said as he took a few steps closer to Kara.

She pulled tighter. "That's the point!"

A has done so many bad things to Kara and her friends, and now she finally had leverage against them. She could get rid of this whole A problem entirely, and she was confident that she could do it.

Hanna walked up to Kara and gently put her hand on Kara's shoulders.

She felt _her_ body start to limp at her mother's touch. It had been so long since she felt it, and she had forgotten how influencing her touch was. She slowly started to let go of the chains.

"Let go." Hanna said calmly.

Hanna let go and A's body fell forwards, a pile of leaves flew up from the impact of their body.

As soon as she let go, she looked up at her parents with teary eyes. She sobbed as she looked at them.

Hanna reached a hand out and grabbed Kara's bony cheek.

Kara couldn't stand it any longer and she lunged into her mother's arms. Hanna wrapped her arms around Kara and cried into the top of her head. Not long after, Caleb's arms were around her too.

They stayed like that for what felt like forever, and she wished that it would never end.

She opened her eyes and looked over her parent's shoulder. She saw that Toby was leaning over A's body and he put handcuffs on A's hands.

Kara closed her eyes again and continue to sob into her parent's body.

"Kara?" Spencer called carefully.

She lifted her head up and looked at Spencer.

"Where is Anna and Zoe?"

Kara sniffled in and looked back up at the hill. From down here, it looked like they were just big rock.

Kara pointed a finger up at the hill. "Up there."

Spencer looked at Toby, Emily and Alison and the four of them darted up the hill.

"Where's Rose?" Ezra asked, his voice low.

Kara looked at his and Aria's faces. She didn't want to see the heartbreak on them.

"I don't know." She said. She saw despair wash over their faces. "I'm sorry."

They didn't say anything. They just looked at the ground with wet eyes.

"I'm going to call the police." Caleb said as he broke from the hug. Hanna and Kara nodded.

Kara leaned back into her mother and embraced the warmth.

She had never felt anything as warm as her mother, and she was almost positive that she would never find anything warmer.

* * *

Mona stumbled through the woods, cursing herself out in her head.

She was supposed to stay behind the girls while A moved them, but she lost them as her heart broke in half.

She was right.

Mona was right, and she hated it.

Earlier that day, Mona had told Hanna, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Alison that she had a suspicion on who A was, and she lied that she had called the police while she was gone.

She actually had called her suspicion and calmly said that if they moved the girls; she would stay close behind and make sure nothing happened. A was suspicious at first, but then Mona had apologized again and again for what she had done, and the desperate A accepted her offer.

And it was at that moment that Mona knew, and her heart was broken.

While on the phone with her, Mona tried to listen to the way that A talked. She wanted to see if she could hear any guilt in their voice, but she heard none.

A had no remorse, and Mona was pretty sure she knew why.

It was these thoughts exactly that got Mona separated from the girls. Her head was pounding and she told herself that she would only stop for a few minutes, but she lost track of time and she completely lost A and the girl's trail.

 _Boom!_

Mona turned her head towards the sound. Her heart pounded as it echoed through the woods.

They definitely weren't gun shots, Mona knew what those sounded like. It sounded more like an explosion.

Mona quickly ran towards the sound. She knew that whatever it was, A was involved.

It didn't sound that far off, so that meant that A hadn't traveled that far from Mona in the first place.

She was about halfway to the sound when she heard grunting coming from behind her.

Mona hid behind a cluster of bushes as she listened to the sound some more.

"Come on, Nick! I think we're almost there."

It was Rose's voice.

Mona felt her heart drop as she heard footsteps approaching quickly.

"What's your plan when we get there?" It was a male voice, one that she hadn't heard before. It was most likely this Nick character that Rose mentioned.

"You're the one with the gun." Rose said. It sounded as if she was right in front of Mona. " _You_ come up with something!"

Mona rolled her eyes. _Great_ , she though. This kid has a gun on him.

Mona took a deep breath as she called out, "Don't shoot!"

She heard the footsteps stop and the air suddenly went still.

"I'm behind the bushes and I'm here to help, don't shoot!" She said again as she started to move away from the bushes.

Mona stepped away from the bush and looked at Rose and Nick's faces.

She saw Rose's face change from fear to relief. Her tense body also loosened up.

"Aunt Mona?" She said in a small voice.

Mona nodded slightly. She held back her tears as she slowly approached Rose.

"Who?" The boy asked.

Rose ignored him as she ran at Mona. Rose opened her arms out and wrapped them around Mona's little body.

Mona immediately wrapped her arms around Rose also, and she took in her small body.

She could feel her bones and she had little muscle. Plus, Rose's face was smaller than usual and she didn't have her usually pudgy cheeks, but Mona ignored that for now. The only thing that mattered was that she now had Rose.

Rose cried into Mona, and all Mona could do was hold her tight.

"Are you okay?" Mona asked when Rose's cries started to die down a little.

Rose nodded. "Are you?"

Mona laughed. "After everything that's happened to you, you ask if I'm okay?"

Rose chuckled. "Do you know where Zoe, Anna and Kara are?"

"Zak does." Mona answered. "And he's with everyone right now fighting to get them back."

Rose backed away from Mona and wiped away her tears. "Is that what the boom came from?"

Mona nodded. "I'm guessing."

The boy, Nick, stepped forwards. "Zak is with the parents?"

Mona looked at him and nodded. "Are you his brother?" Now that Mona got a clear look at him, he looked a lot like Zak.

Nick nodded his head. "Is everything going along with his plan?"

Mona shook her head. "I don't know. I separated from him when we all left Rosewood."

Rose looked at Mona with a questioning look. "Why did you leave them?"

Mona's fear kept her silent. "And why were you creeping along in the woods?" Rose added.

Mona's body kept still. There was no way Mona was going to tell Rose and Nick the truth, but she had to tell them something.

"I thought it would be best if I came from behind. A will be too focused on everyone else and they won't be suspecting me. It was a miracle that I ran into you."

Shots rang through the sky and Mona's heart was beating so fast, that she was scared it would fly out of her chest.

"We have to go now." Mona said as she reached out and grabbed Rose's hand.

Nick grabbed Rose's other hand. "Rose isn't going anywhere near that."

Mona looked at Nick and glared at him. "Since when did you become in charge of Rose?"

"It's part of Zak's plan, that I'm sure he told you."

Mona swallowed. "Look, I'm Rose's aunt and I was the original A, and I know how this new one thinks, and I think I know what is best for Rose."

"You speak as if being A is a good thing." Nick said in an angry tone. "If you would have just kept your cool like everybody else does when they're being bullied and _not_ have turned into a psycho and stalked a bunch of girls, then none of this chain of other A's would have started."

A rage burned through Mona and she got the strong urge to smack this kid across his face, but she stayed put.

"And you act as if you're so smart, but you seem just as clueless as everyone else and you have no experience at all and think that Rose is better off in the hands of a child than with her own aunt." Mona said back. "And the fact that you haven't figured out that A is…" Mona shut her mouth quickly before she could say her name.

Rose quickly let go of Mona's hand and glared at her. "What did you just say?"

Mona took a step back. "Look, I can't get into it right now. Your parents are in trouble and we need to get to them as soon as possible."

Rose and Nick stayed put.

Mona shot a hand out and grabbed Rose's arm. "I'll explain later, I promise, but your parents _really_ need me."

Rose took a deep breath and walked closer to Mona. "Fine. But you have to tell me when this is all over."

Mona nodded her head. "I promise."

Rose looked Mona up and down and turned to Nick. "Let's go."

"I don't know if I trust her." Nick said.

Mona rolled her eyes. "Fine, stay here then. You'll just slow us down."

Nick looked offended, and when Mona and Rose started to walk off, he quickly ran after them.

"Wait!" He called.

Mona and Rose stopped. "So you want to come along now?"

Nick glared at Mona. "I still don't trust you, but I can't let Rose out of my sight."

Mona looked at him respectively. So he _did_ have morals.

"Fine." She said in monotone. "But you have to listen to every word I say."

He nodded. "Okay."

Mona looked down and saw the gun peeking out from under his waistband.

"First you have to give me the gun." Mona said as she looked at it.

Nick put a protective hand on the gun. "No way."

Mona gave him an annoyed glare. "Did you forget what I just said?"

"I know what you said, but I'm sorry. I can't give you the gun."

"Have you ever even shot a gun before?" Mona asked.

Nick's eyes grew wide. "No."

Mona reached out and snatched the gun from under his hand. "Well, I have."

Rose started at Mona with a look of fear and admiration.

Mona winked at Rose and turned towards the shooting sounds. After a few steps, Mona noticed that they stopped.

She began to sweat as she realized that that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

"They stopped shooting." Rose squeaked.

"I know." Mona said. "Hopefully that means they got the gun away from A."

"Hopefully." Rose mumbled.

Mona kept her eyes open and looked straight ahead of her.

A was a pretty good shot, and she knew that. She knew that A had had tons of training.

But the girls and their husbands have been around guns so may times and survived, so hopefully luck was on their side again.

It needed to be, because Mona wasn't so sure that she could handle Rose on her own.

Especially if she sees her parents dead.

* * *

"Kara, come back!" Anna yelled as she saw Kara running down the hill.

Miraculously, Kara was able to cut her chains with the rock, but she seemed to have forgotten about Anna and Zoe and ran off without them.

Anna watched as Kara's body sprinted off and disappeared into the crowd below her.

Anna looked down at her chains. "Dammit!" She yelled as she tried to get her hands out, but that obviously didn't work.

Zoe started to pant behind Anna.

"What the hell is going on?" She whimpered to herself.

Anna looked back up at the scene when she heard an eerie silence. She couldn't see through the darkness.

"I don't know." Anna answered. "But tonight could either end really good, or really bad."

Anna heard Zoe gulp.

She looked back down at her chains and then she looked back at the rock. Anna bent down at reached for it. It was just in her reach, and she grabbed it and stared at it.

"If Kara was able to get out, than so can we." Anna said as she put the rock down and lifted her chains up. She lifted her hands up and then slammed them down. The chains clanked against the rock but they didn't crack what-so-ever.

Anna heard Zoe bounce up and down behind her. "Hurry." She urged.

"I'm trying!" Anna yelled as she brought the chain down again. There was the sound of connection, but there still wasn't any progress.

She brought the chain up and down and up and down but nothing happened.

It took Kara few tries, so why was it taking Anna so long?

Silence still filled the air and Anna was starting to get worried. Plus, it was kind of annoying her that she wasn't part of the action. She had no idea what was going on and there was no way that she could find out because she was chained to a damn tree.

A tear ran down her face as she slammed the chain down again. She still made no progress and it was really making her upset.

Freedom, her _parents_ , were just down the hill and they had no idea that she was up on the hill in front of them, and who knows why all the sounds stopped. Perhaps A had won and gotten rid of all the threats, and it was silent because they were cleaning up their mess.

Another tear fell down her face as she pictured A dragging her parents bodies through the woods and disposing of them.

Her vision blurred as she blinked the tears away.

"Come on!" Anna yelled as she slammed the chain down one last time.

She heard a _crack_ and I smile erupted on Anna's face. She thought that she had succeeded but she then felt a white hot pain run through her left knuckle.

Anna 's vision cleared and she looked down at her knuckle. Blood poured from it and her middle finger was bent out of place. The pain took over her body and she let out quiet scream.

Anna looked down at her now broken left middle finger and her already broken right ring finger. Great, now she had _two_ broken fingers.

Tears of pain ran down Anna's cheeks as she turned to look at Zoe for assistance, but Anna's heart dropped when she saw Zoe lying down face first into the grass

Anna took a deep breath. "Zoe?" She called.

No answer.

Anna shook her vigorously. "Zoe!" She yelled louder.

Still no answer.

Anna looked at her back and saw that her wounds were definitely infected and then Anna touched her body, it was burning hot.

Anna shook her head. "Now is not the best time, Zoe!" Anna said as she slapped Zoe's cheeks, but Zoe's face remained motionless.

Anna grunted as she tried to push Zoe's body over so she was face up, but she happened to put preasure on her newly broken middle finger and the pain shot through her again.

"Anna!"

She turned her neck at the sound. It was definitely her mom's voice.

"Mom?" She croaked back.

She heard a loud sob and then loud footsteps.

Anna looked at Zoe one last time and then stood up and waited for her mom to come into sight.

She saw four figures run at her. Her vision blurred from tears again but she quickly wiped them away.

"Mom!" She called again. "Dad! I'm over here!" She yelled as she jumped up and down.

She saw her parent's faces come into view and she felt like she could faint. They were here. They were _really_ here.

They saw Anna and a look of relief fell over their faces.

When they finally reached Anna they both wrapped their arms around her and tears flowed from all of their eyes.

"Oh my god." Spencer cried.

Anna laughed/sobbed. She forgot what it felt like to be in her mother and father's arms. She missed it so much.

The weight of the three of the together because overbearing and the three slowly lowered to the ground and Anna found herself in a ball of warmth.

"Zoe!" Anna heard Emily's voice call.

Anna poked her head out of the ball and saw that Emily and Alison were the other two figures that ran up the hill with her parents. They were both looking at Zoe's body in horror. They both ran to Zoe and crouched down next to her. They both wrapped their bodies around her.

"She needs to see a doctor fast!" Anna said as she backed away from her parents. She looked at Zoe's body again. "She has terrible wounds on her back that are defiantly infected. I'm pretty sure that's why she passed out. That and hunger, but she's okay."

Emily and Alison looked at her with wet cheeks but they nodded.

"Mona had said that the police would meet us here, but where are they?" Toby said.

Spencer looked at him. "I don't know."

"Caleb had said that he called the police so they should be here soon." Emily said with her arms crossed over her body. She had taken her jacket off and wrapped it around Zoe.

A gust of wind then blew past Anna and she shivered. She didn't realize how cold it was until now.

Anna looked down at her chains. "I'm still tied up." She said.

Spencer and Toby looked down at the chains with red eyes. They then noticed her busted up fingers.

"What happened to your fingers?" Spencer cried in horror.

Anna looked at her ring finger. "A broke this one when I had to decide between hurting me or the others," She then looked at her pinky finger, "and I broke this one a few minutes ago when I was trying to break the chains against a rock."

Everyone looked at her with sorrow.

"Oh my god, what did you guys go through?" Alison said in a scratchy voice.

Anna looked down at the ground and tried to ignore the throbbing in her finger. "A lot." Was all she was able to say.

A siren blared in the distance and Anna had never heard such a beautiful sound.

Her dad turned his head towards the sound. "They'll be able to get you out. I know for a fact that Victoria mastered with mechanics at the academy."

Anna nodded. She leaned into her mother while they waited for the police to get there.

Footsteps marched along the hill and tons of police officers ran up to Anna and Zoe.

"Get a stretcher!" One of them yelled when they saw Zoe on the ground.

One ran to Anna and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, do you need an ambulance?"

Anna was going to say no, but then the pain from her knuckle ran through her body again and she felt her legs start to wobble from her weak body.

She nodded her head.

"Get the paramedics!" The cop called again.

Cops ran up and down the hill doing all kinds of certain things. Some were with German Shepard's sniffing around the ground, looking for hidden bombs that everyone might have missed, other police officers ran through the woods, probably searching for the place that A kept the girls, and paramedics with stretchers ran up the hill.

One cop ran up to Anna and cut her chain with bolt cutters. They then grabbed her wrist, they made sure to avoid her fingers, and assisted her onto the stretcher.

Three police officers grabbed Zoe carefully and loaded her onto a stretcher as well and they pushed Zoe and Anna side by side down the hill to the ambulances.

Toby, Spencer, Emily and Alison at their sides.

* * *

"Are those police lights?" Rose asked as Mona, Nick and herself walked to where Mona said everyone was.

Mona squinted her eyes and saw the lights in the distance also. She grabbed Rose's hand. "Come on!" She said as she took off.

Rose and Nick followed Mona through the woods and the red and blue flashing lights got closer and closer and Rose's heart beat faster and faster.

Rose saw a clearing, and in it she saw police cars, ambulances, police dogs, and most importantly, her parents.

"Oh my god." Mona said. She was looking at a figure on the ground. Rose followed her eyes and saw that A was slumped face first into the ground.

"They got A." Nick said from behind the girls.

Rose looked away from A and back at her parents. They were off to the side looking at the scene with teary eyes.

Rose scanned the scene and she saw both Anna and Zoe on stretchers heading towards the ambulances, and Kara was sitting on the hood of a police car with a blanket around her shoulders and her parents at her side.

Police officers pointed their guns at A and were shouting things that Rose couldn't hear.

Without thinking, Rose ran onto the scene and straight to her parents.

"What are you doing?" Mona yelled from behind her, but Rose didn't stop.

Her parents were right there and she wasn't going to go another second without being without them.

Rose ran right past Kara.

"Rose?" Kara yelled when she passed, but Rose didn't stop to say anything.

Her parents didn't see her coming, so when Rose wrapped her arms around them, their bodies were tense.

Rose didn't say anything, she just cried into their bodies.

She felt their bodies loosen and heard their gasps as they realized who it was.

"Oh my god, Rose!" Aria yelled as she wrapped her arms tighter around her.

Rose hugged tighter.

"Rose!" Ezra mumbled as he pushed her closer.

Rose still didn't say anything, she didn't want to ruin this moment.

They stayed like this for who knows how long, but at this point, the police had noticed that she was there.

"Miss. Fitz?" They were calling. "Are you okay, do you need an ambulance?"

Rose shook her head. "No!" She yelled.

"We need to escort you to the hospital and we need you to at last sit in it." They said gently.

Rose took a deep breath. "Okay, fine!" She yelled. She just wanted them to go away.

She felt her parents grip loosen a little but Rose squeezed tighter.

"Don't let go!" She yelled.

Her parents hugged her again and they looked at Rose.

They backed away and Aria knelt down and held Rose's face.

"Honey, you need to get into the ambulance." Aria said.

Rose grabbed her mother's hand on her face and nodded. She just wanted a few more seconds with them.

Rose turned her head slightly and looked at Zoe, Anna and Kara.

Kara and Anna were staring at her, Zoe was passed out. Both Anna and Kara were crying.

Rose sent a small smile towards them and they shot her one back.

Aria looked back at her parents and she felt like she was in a dream.

She had no idea how this night was going to end, but the only important part was that it ended with her and her friends safe, and Rose in her parent's arms.

* * *

Zoe's eye's shot open and she sat up quickly, which was a mistake. Her back ached and her head was pounding, but despite that, she looked around at the scene ahead of her.

The last thing she remembered was Kara running down into the battle and Anna trying to break her chain with the rocks, and then there was darkness.

Before Zoe couldn't get a really good look at what was going on, a paramedic was in her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "We're going to get you to the hospital as soon as possible. You're safe, Zoe." She then shone a flashlight into Zoe's eyes. "Does this make you nauseous?"

The truth was, it did, but she swatted the flashlight away and looked at everyone around her.

Her friends were with her parents scattered around the scene, even Rose was there. Anna was next to Zoe on a stretcher, her parents gathered around her.

"Anna?" Zoe asked. "What happened?"

Anna, Toby and Spencer started at Zoe with shocked expressions.

"Were safe." Anna eventually said. "They have A tied up."

Before Zoe could say anything, she heard her mother shout from across the scene.

"Zoe!" Alison yelled.

Zoe looked at her moms as a tear ran down her face. She opened her mouth the yell back, but nothing came out.

They ran at her, and when they got to Zoe, they wrapped their arms around Zoe and pain shot through her back, but she didn't care. She was in her mothers' arms, and she was so happy.

They all three cried into eachother and they mumbled questions like, "Are you okay?" "What happened?" "How did you all get out?"

"I'm okay." Was all Zoe was able to say. Her voice was so scratchy as she answered.

Zoe opened her eyes in time to see the police jump back as A tried to get up from the ground.

"Stay down!" One of the male officers yelled.

Zoe broke apart from her mother's grasps and looked at what was going on.

She looked at Rose, Zoe and Kara and they were also staring at A on the ground as well. Horror was in all of their faces.

A lied still, face first on the ground while the police officers had guns pointed at her back.

"Don't try anything!" A officer yelled as they leaned over A. They were reaching for A's hood.

Zoe felt her stomach flip. It finally happened.

The girls had escaped from A, and the police were here and they were finally going to know who A was.

The police officer grabbed A's hood and ripped it off. Zoe saw familiar black hair tied in a ponytail fall out of the hood.

Another officer held A down while another one reached for A's mask.

Zoe looked away for a second. Was she ready for this? Did she really want to know who was behind all the tricks?

As Zoe brought her eyes back to A, she saw Mike and Mona standing off to the side, tears in Mona's eyes, and every parent held their child tight.

Emily wrapped her arms around Zoe while Alison held Zoe's hand.

Zoe took a deep breath as the officer grabbed the mask and ripped it off.

A series of simultaneous gasps sounded and Zoe felt like she was going to throw up.

"Holy crap." She said as she stared at her face.

A, the person who had been torturing her and her friends for over a year, the person who knew everyone's secrets, the person who knew just the right way to hurt someone, the person Zoe thought she could trust, someone she would have trusted her life with before tonight.

She stared at her sinister face and she made eye contact with them.

The face behind the mask…was Victoria.

* * *

 **AN: AHHHHHHH YOU FINALLY KNOW!**

 **GOD I HAD NO IDEA HOW I WAS GOING TO REVEAL IT BUT I THINK I DID AN OKAY JOB!**

 **Did any of you guys suspect it was Victoria? I know I had a few people guess but they weren't really sure, but if you had the suspicion, good job!**

 **There were** _ **tons**_ **of clues, starting from the fourth chapter so if you re-read the story, you'll see how obvious it was.**

 **Anyways,** **the girls are** _ **finally**_ **free! And I warned you that the perspectives would be confusing, but if you are still confused, just message me and I'll explain :)**

 **And now for the sad news: The story is coming to an end.**

 **There are only going to be a few more chapters after this one and then it will be the end.**

 **I don't want it to end, but there simply isn't any more I can do for the girls and it has to end, but we still have a few more chapters so let's not get too sad.**

 **Okay, I love you all and I'll see you soon.**

 **-Jessica**


	53. VisitAtion

**AN: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii**

 **I love reading all of your reactions to Victoria being A!**

 **I know it's a little confusing but it will all be explained soon, don't worry.**

 **Uswnt101 and catie-twilight-lover1 favorited and ifcrulz8 favorited while silver-infinite, ThoughtfulWishes and AMS03 followed and favorited.**

 **Alright, let's get into it!**

* * *

The doctors were nice enough to let Anna, Kara, Zoe and Anna all stay in the same hospital room, but when they were getting examined, the doctors took them away to separate rooms.

Zoe right now was in one of those rooms.

When she first got to the hospital, they rushed her into emergency care and hooked her into a bunch of machines and stabbed her with tons of needles and pumped antibiotics and what-not into her body.

Zoe was passed out for most of it, but it turns out that Zoe had lost eighteen pounds while A held her captive, plus, her back was highly infected.

And to add onto the list of messed up things, she had pneumonia.

 _It could be worse_ , Zoe thought. She thought it over and over again.

She could be dead, but all she had to do was suffer through coughing fits and have wires hooked into her arms and have shots in her back, but it could be worse.

Zoe had only seen the others once since the few hours she's been in the hospital and that was when they were all rushed in together, then they turned down separate halls and the doctors did their thing.

Zoe had no idea what condition her friends were in, but she felt like if it was something terrible, the doctors would have told her.

"Are we almost done?" Zoe asked the nurse who was writing something on the white board in front of her. "I really want to see my friends?"

After she finished her sentence, Zoe erupted in a coughing fit that lasted for a minute. The nurse ran to her side and helped her sit up. Once Zoe stopped, she stared at the nurse and waited for her to answer the question.

"We have to wait for the doctor to further inspect you." The nurse said.

Zoe sighed. "Can you at least tell me if my friends are all okay?"

The nurse picked up a clipboard and read the papers on it.

"They're all going to be okay, Zoe." She said as she kept reading the paper. "You might even have it the worst out of all of them."

After a few more seconds of coughing, she looked back at the nurse. "When can I see my parents?"

"Your pneumonia is really contagious, Zoe. They won't be able to see you until you've been on twenty four hours of antibiotics. After twenty four hours, you won't be contagious anymore." The nurse explained.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "So I'm guessing that means that I won't be able to see my friends or boyfriend either."

The nurse shook her head.

Zoe looked over the nurse's shoulder at what she wrote on the whiteboard.

 _Patient: Zoe DiLafields_

 _Problem: Infected back, pneumonia, Osteoporosis_

 _Goal: Get rid of all the pneumonia, get back to healthy body weight, and heal back._

 _Doctor: Kingston_

As she read her doctor's name, the door opened and a handsome middle aged man walked in with a pearly white smile.

"Hello, Zoe." He said with an English accent. "I'll be your doctor today." He stuck his hand out and Zoe shook it reluctantly.

"Hi." She said in a scratchy voice.

"You'll be able to see everyone soon, but we just need to make sure your pneumonia isn't contagious." He said.

Zoe nodded. It was almost impossible to be mad at this guy. Everything he said sounded so magical.

"Can you tell me my friends conditions?" Zoe asked. She couched really loud but she was able to stop it before it turned into an attack.

Dr. Kingston shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The only thing I can say is that you are all pretty underweight but you'll all live." He then smiled and Zoe could have sworn that she saw a glint in his white teeth."

Zoe swallowed hard. "What about A-" She cut herself off. "-I mean Victoria." She would have to get used to saying her name.

A sad look washed over both Dr. Kingston and the nurse's faces.

"She's pretty much okay." He said. "She has a busted up knee but other than that, she's fine. We're going to give her a cast and then she'll be shipped off to jail."

Zoe nodded her head. "Thanks, Dr. Kingston." She figured that he probably wasn't allowed to tell her that, but he did anyways.

He smiled again. "I'm going to be with you for a while, so please, call me Wren."

Zoe coughed hard again, but then she nodded. "Thanks, Wren."

Wren walked to Zoe's bedside and lifted up one of the tubes that was connected to a vein in her arms. He took a syringe out of a drawer and plunged it into the tube.

Zoe flinched at it. She expected to be knocked out cold or something, and when she woke up she would be back in A's grasp.

Wren noticed the scared look on her face. "Don't worry." He said. "It'll help with the coughing."

Zoe nodded. "Thanks."

"I'm afraid that until the twenty four hours of you being on antibiotics is up, you're basically on bedrest and you can't leave the room."

Zoe leaned her head back into her very hard, uncomfortable pillow. "Okay."

Wren walked towards the door and the nurse was quickly at his side.

"A nurse will be in with food in about fifteen minutes, and in the meantime, catch up an your sleep." Wren said as he opened the door.

Zoe pulled her sheet up to her chin as a response, and Wren closed the door.

She looked out of the window and looked out at Rosewood. It was the early morning, so the sun was just starting to come up, and Zoe's room was on one of the highest floors and it was facing out at the perfect angle of Rosewood's horizon. The orange sky illuminated the buildings and created a shadow that loomed through all of Rosewood.

Zoe looked down at her street. She couldn't tell which one was her house, but just looking at the street was making her homesick.

Plus, all she wanted to do was see her parents, her friends and Cory.

That's _all_ she wanted.

Zoe groaned as she reached for the T.V remote that was on her bedside table. She had no idea what channel was what, but she knew that anything was better than sitting there and doing nothing and being forced to think about the things you don't have.

With that thought, she pressed the power button and the little T.V in the corner turned on.

As soon as it did, Zoe erupted into a coughing fit. It wasn't as bad as it usually was, thanks to the medicine, but it was still pretty bad.

When it was over with, Zoe's eyes were watering and they were blurring the T.V.

The volume was turned all the way down, so Zoe still had no idea what was going on. All she saw was a blur of colors.

She wiped the tears away, and when she could finally see, an image of Victoria was on the screen.

Zoe fumbled for the remote and quickly turned it up.

"…held the girls captive in an abandoned auto shop. Details about what Officer Victoria did to teens, Anna, Zoe, Rose and Kara are unknown, but we'll let you all know as soon as we can." Said a preppy, blonde, news reporter.

Zoe scoffed. They were all kidnapped and tortured and the only thing the public cared about was how Victoria hurt them. It made Zoe sick.

The news reporter's face turned when the camera changed angles, and her face grew more serious. "We have reporters stationed around the Rosewood Hospital where the girls are staying, and we were able to get a few words out of one of their parents."

Zoe's heart dropped when the camera's turned to a video of Jason, rushing into the hospital. A reporter and camera wobbled behind him.

"Mr. DiLaurentis, why didn't you come back to Rosewood as soon as you found out Zoe was missing?" The reporter asked.

"I tried to come home but I couldn't." Jason said angrily as he continued to walk to the hospital doors.

"Couldn't or didn't want to?"

Jason stopped and turned to the camera, an angry look on his face. " _Couldn't_." He said sharply. "This Victoria character made sure that every flight I tried to get on got canceled, and every car I got into broke down."

"Were you able to make any contact with your daughter's mothers?" The reporter asked.

Jason turned and kept walking. "No. I tried thousands of times but the call would never go through. I'm guessing that was because of Victoria too."

"Do you believe that the girls were actually taken, or do you think it was all staged?" The reported unbelievably asked.

Jason turned to the camera, an indescribable look of anger on his face, and he reached out and grabbed the camera's lens and shoved it down.

"What the _bleep_ is wrong with you?" Jason's voice called.

There was a rustling sound and then the video ended.

"Jason DiLaurentis entered the hospital at that point, and we were never able to get an answer." The reporter said.

A picture of Jason appeared on the screen.

"Jason DiLaurentis, biological father to Zoe DiLafields," Zoe's school picture from Junior year popped up, "has been in Zoe's life since she was born, but she never knew he was her dad. As far as Zoe knew, Jason was her uncle. Yes, her uncle! Jason is the brother to Alison DiLafields, Zoe's mother. Alison married Emily Fields and the two of them wanted a child, so they used an anonymous sample which they later found out was the sample that came from Jason DiLaurentis."

Zoe shook her head angrily. Were the news allowed to do that? Could they just tell Zoe's whole life story? And the way they were telling it made Zoe's life sound _crazy_.

A picture of Zoe and her moms and Jason appeared on the screen. It was from the Christmas of freshmen year, before Zoe knew Jason was her dad.

Where did they even get these pictures from?

"This is ridiculous." Zoe said as she turned the T.V off. The news reporter was changing stories and went on with describing Anna's life, and Zoe didn't want to hear it.

"Crazy right?"

Zoe jumped really hard and screamed, and that scream turned into a coughing fit.

She turned her head to the speaker and she felt her jaw drop.

"Jason?" Zoe said in disbelief.

Somehow, Jason was standing in the corner of her room, a concerned look on his face.

"I didn't mean to scare you." He said as he walked over to Zoe's bedside. "I haven't really processed what has happened to you yet."

Zoe was absolutely grateful that Jason was here, especially since she hasn't seen him in what's felt like forever, but how did he get in here? Wasn't Zoe supposed to be in quarantine?

"How did you get in here?" Zoe asked as a few stray coughs escaped her mouth.

"I snuck in." He said with a smirk. "They don't have anyone guarding you, and I had to see you."

Zoe smiled. "You really shouldn't be here. I'm highly contagious."

Jason waved a hand at her. "I don't care that you're contagious. I'll risk pneumonia for the rest of my life for a few minutes with my daughter."

Zoe felt her cold body warm up a little. Another burst of coughs erupted from her mouth, and she covered them with her hand so she wouldn't infect Jason.

He reached over Zoe and grabbed her water that was on the table and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and gulped it down. "Thanks." She said when she was done.

Jason nodded and looked around. "Could they make the place any more boring?" He said with sarcasm. "They could have at least painted the walls a pretty color."

Zoe looked around at her room, and the truth is, it was pretty boring. The walls were an ugly beige color.

Zoe laughed. "You're right."

Jason smiled at her. "And I'm guessing the only thing to watch is the news, and as you already saw…" He trailed off.

Zoe frowned when she remembered how the reporter grilled Jason with questions.

"I'm sorry they asked you stuff like that." Zoe said quietly.

"Why are you apologizing?" He asked. "It's not your fault."

Zoe shrugged. "I mean, they were asking you questions about me."

Jason stared at her. "They were in the wrong. They're only looking for a juicy story."

Zoe nodded. She then remembered what Jason had said to the questions.

"Did A really do that stuff?" She asked. She still wasn't used to calling A by her real name.

Jason nodded. "I did everything I could, but Victoria always found a way to make sure I couldn't leave."

Zoe took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry."

"Again with the apologizing?" Jason said in an upbeat tone.

Zoe smiled and shook her head. "Sorry."

He lifted his eyebrows up.

Zoe chuckled. "I'm sorry for saying sorry, and I'm sorry for apologizing about apologizing."

Jason huffed out a small laugh. "You're forgiven."

Zoe stared at his blue eyes. Zoe had inherited every one of the stereotypical DiLaurentis genes _except_ the blue eyes. She was blessed with Emily's poop brown ones.

Jason looked down at the menu for the hospital food that was next to Zoe's phone on the bedside table. He opened it and scanned through it.

"Ugh." He retched. "They don't even have any good food here."

Zoe was going to laugh, but then she remembered what Wren had said.

"You need to go." Zoe said. She sat up quickly and winced. "My doctor said someone will be coming with food in fifteen minutes." She then looked at the clock on the wall. "And he said that about thirteen minutes ago."

Jason's eyes grew wide. He looked at the door and then back at Zoe.

"I'll come back." He said. "Next time when I'm allowed too."

Zoe nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."

He smiled and leaned forwards and hugged Zoe very gently. He made sure to hover over the scars on Zoe's back.

Zoe on the other hand, squeezed as hard as she could.

He let go and rushed towards the door.

"I'll see you soon." He said as he opened the door and stepped out.

"See you soon!" Zoe called out.

The door then closed and he was gone.

It wasn't until after Jason was gone that Zoe realized that he never mentioned anything about what Zoe had went through, unlike the hospital staff.

After they hooked Zoe up to everything, they had asked her if she was okay mentally. The answer was obviously no, but she didn't think it would help talking to someone.

The doctors kept trying to get Zoe to talk about what she went through, but she didn't want too. It hurt too much.

But, even after Zoe had told them she didn't want to, the doctors had hired a therapist for Zoe and the girls to see once they were stable.

The door opened again, and Zoe expected to see Jason, but a plump nurse waddled in with a food cart.

She rolled it over to Zoe and hooked it up to her bed so the food was on a tray above her stomach.

"No solid foods today, honey." The nurse said as she handed Zoe a spoon. "Your metabolism won't be able to handle it, so it's just soup and water for today."

Zoe looked at the watery soup and shrugged.

"Thanks." Zoe pleaded.

The nurse nodded and walked out of the room. "I'll see you later, dear."

The door closed and Zoe looked at the soup and took a sip.

She wished she could have a buffet worth of food, but she knew that she would throw it all up, so she gratefully chowed down the soup.

In fact, this was the first thing Zoe was able to eat by herself since she was still in A's grasp.

She finished it quickly and she immediately found herself getting sleepy.

Zoe tried to fight it off, she knew that if she fell asleep, she would be awoken by nightmares, but she couldn't fight it off.

She gave in and let her body shut down.

* * *

Rose woke up with sweat dripping down her back, and a scream escaping from her lips.

Her doctor jumped at her scream but he collected himself and approached her.

"Are you okay?" He asked Rose.

She nodded. "Yeah, it was just another nightmare."

Thankfully, Rose didn't remember it this time, but every time she fell asleep, she was quickly awoken by the sight of Victoria lurching at her, or someone else she loved.

"You know I can give you something to help you sleep." Her doctor said as he wrote on his clipboard.

Rose shook her head. "No. I don't want to have to rely on anything."

Don't get her wrong, Rose wanted sleeping pills _desperately_ , but she didn't want to need them to sleep. She wanted to get through this nightmare faze on her own.

The doctor nodded and stared at Rose up and down. He lifted up her blanket and looked at her legs.

"They're still pretty swelled up." He said. "I might need to give you a larger dosage. Is your nausea any better?"

Rose nodded. "A little."

The doctor wrote on his clipboard again. "Alright. What about the cramps?"

"They're fine."

Rose looked at the white board with her information on it again. She really didn't have much wrong with her. She was a little underweight, but not as much as the others since she was able to get out, she had a strong case of PTSD, and she had giardia.

Giardia is what was causing her bloating and nausea. It's basically a parasite in Rose's body. The doctors were able to trace it back to the day before everyone was found, and the parasite got into Rose's body through the water she drank. Her and Nick found a river and Rose gulped down water but that was a terrible idea, because now she had to deal with this crap. The doctors said that it was extremely rare to get, but since Rose was so lucky, she just so happened to get a bad case of it. The only good thing was that the doctors said is should be cured in a few days.

The doctor nodded at the trash can next to Rose's bed that was labeled 'the icky sickie collector' and a clip art picture of a sick person was under the bubbled letters.

"You know where the trash is if you need it." The doctor said.

Rose nodded. "I know."

There was a knock on the door and Rose looked over and saw Zak peeking through the little window in the door.

"Do you know him, or is he just another reporter?" The doctor asked.

"I know him. He's my…boyfriend." Rose stammered. She wasn't exactly sure what to call him. Rose thought he was dead just yesterday, and she didn't really have time to discuss with Zak what they were.

The doctor walked over to the door and let him in.

"I'll leave you two alone." The doctor said as he walked out the door. "Try not to puke on him."

Rose nodded with a small smile on her lips. "I'll try."

He then closed the door.

Zak walked to Rose's bedside and sat down. She saw him eyeing her hand, probably thinking if he should grab it or not.

Rose made the decision for him and reached out and grabbed it.

"Hi." She said in a low tone.

"Hey." He said with a smile.

It was silent between the two. Rose didn't like the awkwardness.

"How the hell were you able to trick Victoria into thinking you were dead?" Rose asked. A sour taste grew in her mouth when she said her name. Or maybe it was just vomit.

Zak shook his head. "It's not important."

"Bull shit." Rose grunted. "I've had to go through a full year of being humiliated by her and you escaped from her in a day and she forgot all about you and I want to know how you did it."

Zak sighed. "She wanted to kill me off anyways, so she blackmailed Anna's brother into doing it but he wimped out so I took that opportunity to fake my death. I told my brother about everything and he agreed to help. I needed someone there to witness it and I felt like Kara would be the best option and then it happened and that was that. I had no idea that the police would frame Kara for my death, if I did I wouldn't have done it, but Victoria _was_ a police officer so I guess that no matter what, she still would have found a way to get you all together to take you. My idea is that she wanted to frame you all and once you were all in one place, she would take you, but that didn't happen. Anyways, I stayed on the down low and tried to help you all out as best as I could from then on."

Rose shook her head. "Why didn't you tell me? I cried for days and felt my heart break into a million pieces and you just ignored it."

"I wanted to see you so badly, Rose, but I knew it was too risky. I did little things every once in a while like bring Zoe to A's lair so she could discover the trackers and I tried to help Kara escape, and Victoria never put two and two together."

Rose looked down at their hands. "You missed my birthday."

She looked back up at Zak and a sad look washed over his face. "I know, I'm sorry about that, but I swear that I'll make it up to you." A grin grew in his lips.

Rose smiled. "Have the police questioned you yet?"

Zak sighed. "I just got done talking to them actually. I told them everything I knew about Victoria and how I faked my death and they said that they would drop the charges on Kara and they would take the arrest off of her permanent record."

"Good." Rose took a deep breath, which was a mistake. She smelt hotdogs from out in the hallway and that set off her gag reflex and that caused the vomit to rise.

She reached for the icky sickie collector. "Look away." She told Zak. She didn't want him to see her vomit her insides out.

He did as he was told as she vomited into the can. She felt the blood vessels pop in her cheeks.

After a minute of nonstop throwing up, she wiped her mouth and pressed the nurse button.

Zak looked at Rose with a sympathetic look. He softly rubbed his hand on her cheek which was red without a doubt.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you." He said as he stared at her blotchy face.

She shook her head. "It really doesn't bother me." She said as she brought her hand up to her cheek and grabbed Zak's hand. "I would much rather be puking my guts out than be stuck with A for another day."

The door opened and a nurse walked in with a concerned look.

"Is everything okay, Miss. Fitz?" She asked.

Rose looked at the trash can. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just puked."

"Would you like me to empty your can?"

Rose nodded.

The nurse waddled through the room and grabbed the can, a disgusted look grew on the nurse's face and Rose didn't blame her. Her puke was disgusting.

She then opened the door in a hurry and almost ran into Rose's parents who were standing just outside the door.

"Oh!" The nurse yelled as she stopped moving abruptly.

Both Aria and Ezra backed up with shocked looks on their faces.

Rose put her hand to her mouth and tried her best not to laugh. Zak was smiling next to Rose, trying not to laugh as well.

"I'm sorry about that." The nurse said as she stepped aside so Aria and Ezra could walk in.

"It's no problem. You were just doing your job." Ezra said as he stepped inside.

The nurse nodded a thank you and quickly left.

Rose watched the door close and then she made eye contact with her mother. She looked eager to talk to Rose; she was even bobbing up and down on her heels.

Rose turned to Zak. "Can I talk to my parents alone?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, of course." He brought Rose's bloated hand to his mouth and kissed it. He then got up and left the room, nodding at Aria and Ezra on his way out.

Ezra followed him to the door and closed it after Zak was out.

"Uh oh." Rose said at her father closing the door. "This can't be good."

He turned around and made eye contact with Rose. She wasn't really able to read them.

They walked to Rose's bedside and sat down. Her dad was on her left, and her mom was on her right.

She looked at the two of them. "What?"

The two made eye contact and then Rose spoke.

"You'll be home in a few days, and we want you to know that…" Aria stammered off as her mouth erupted into a smile.

Her husband finished her sentence. "I was on the phone with the company who was re-building our house not too long ago and they said the house was ready for us to move into once you get out."

Rose sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank god!" She cried out. "I thought you were going to say someone died or something!"

Her parents shook their heads.

"We had given them reference photos so they knew how to build the house and they said that they had gotten it exact." Aria said.

Rose smiled big. "So I'll be able to sleep in my own bed?"

They nodded again.

Rose clapped her hands in glee. "Finally."

Rose hasn't been in her own bed in _forever._ It seemed like forever ago since Victoria had set her house on fire and destroyed Rose's house.

"We weren't going to tell you until we were in the driveway of the house with you, but we couldn't wait." Ezra said, smiling.

"I'm glad you told me." Rose said. "Today's sucked."

"Well, I'm glad we could make it better." Aria said as she squeezed Rose's hand.

Rose looked at her mom and hers hands as a random thought popped into her head.

"Do you know when I'll be able to see Zoe, Anna and Kara?"

"Soon." Ezra said. "I overheard that Zoe has pneumonia and it might be a while until you see her, but I don't think the other girls have that bad of cases, so soon."

Rose's jaw dropped. "Zoe has pneumonia?"

"Unfortunately." Aria said in a small tone.

Rose looked around her room and her eyes landed on the small T.V in the corner of her room.

"Are we on the news yet?" Rose asked. She hasn't had the chance to turn the T.V on yet.

Ezra sighed. "Yes. They have you and the other's whole life story and they keep trying to get into the hospital to question you all but the police limited them to staying outside, but you can't set a foot outside without getting grilled."

Rose groaned. "Really? So that means you can't get Pigtunia for me?"

Aria chuckled. "Ezra could probably try to get her for you."

Ezra turned to Aria. "Why me?"

"Because I said so." Aria said strictly.

"It's your pig."

"But our daughter wants it."

Ezra rolled his eyes playfully. "How about we rock paper scissors? Whoever loses has to get the pig."

Aria put her fist up. "You're on."

They started the game and Aria won the first round with rock, but she lost the second from paper.

Rose watched the match with wide eyes. She had never seen her parents do something as practical as rock paper scissors.

Aria took a deep breath as she finished the chant and held out rock again.

Rose turned to her father and saw that he was holding paper.

"Haha." He said playfully.

Aria groaned. "Dang it!"

Ezra smiled. "Don't worry." He said. "I'll get the pig. I just wanted to play rock paper scissors."

Aria scoffed. "Wow."

"Do _you_ want to get the pig?" Ezra threatened.

She shook her head. "No."

Ezra smiled. "Good." He moved his eyes up to Rose. "Is there anything else you want?"

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe a hairbrush?"

He nodded and got up. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

He was then out the door.

"I can't believe him sometimes." Aria said as she watched him walk out the door.

Rose looked at her father leaving and then at her mother. She could see the love for her father in her eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Rose asked.

Aria turned to Rose. "Shoot."

"How did you two meet?"

The blood rushed from her mother's face. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Because you're my parents." Rose said obviously. "Why, was it bad?"

Aria shook her head and scratched her neck. "No, it's not bad, but…"

Rose leaned forwards. "Spill."

"I was sixteen and your father was older, but I didn't really care. We were in a bar when he approached me and started flirting and one thing led to another…"

Rose jaw dropped. "What happened? Did you two…" She stopped.

Aria shook her head quickly. "No!" She called. "But we did make out in the bathroom."

Rose shook her head. "Ew."

"Don't say that!" Aria said sarcastically. "I _really_ liked him, but then the next day I found out he was my teacher."

Rose knew that part, but she didn't know the gory details. "What did you guys do?"

Aria looked down at the floor. "We continued to see each other in privet." She whispered.

Rose gasped. "Mom!"

"Shh!" Aria urged. "Okay, I loved him and he loved me and he being my teacher wouldn't change that."

Rose shook her head. "I had no idea that you were such a rebel."

"Don't underestimate your mother." She said with a wink.

Rose laughed. "Well, I met Zak at the brew. He spilled his coffee on me, which I later found out that was A's plan but…its how we met."

Aria was quiet. "How are you feeling about that by the way? How are you handling Victoria?"

Rose shook her head. "Fine." She lied.

Aria grabbed Rose's hand again. "Don't lie."

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "I have nightmares once and a while but that's it."

Aria nodded. "Your father and I are here if you need us."

Rose half-smiled. "I know."

Aria squeezed her hand. "You need sleep." She started. "I know you get nightmares, but I know you can get through them. You're strong."

Rose nodded. She _was_ really tired, but she was scared that she would have another nightmare.

"Wake me up when dad gets back." Rose said as her mother stood up.

"I will." She said as she tucked Rose under her blanket.

Aria then walked towards the door and opened it.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." Rose called back as her eyelids forced themselves down.

Aria closed the door gently and in a matter of minutes, Rose was asleep.

* * *

"Anna, you should really stay in bed." Spencer said as Anna pushed herself upright.

"I'm sick of being in here." Anna groaned as she put her feet on the ground.

"You've been through so much this month and you can't push yourself." Her father added.

Anna straightened herself and looked up at her parents. "I'm sick of being locked up in this room!" She complained. "I just want to go for a walk."

"There are reporters everywhere, honey. You can't step outside of the door without being ambushed."

Anna sighed and looked out of the window. She saw the hospital garden and how it was empty.

"I'll walk in the garden." She said. "You can only get in through the hospital so I won't get attacked by reporters. Plus, you can watch me from here." Anna said as she pointed to the window.

Spencer and Toby looked the nurse.

"Is she well enough to do that?" Toby asked.

The nurse looked at her clipboard and then back up. "Her doctor didn't write anything prohibiting her exploration, so I'd say, yes, she can."

Anna looked back at her parents. "Please!"

Spencer and Toby sighed.

"I don't want you to walk around alone." Spencer said.

Anna looked out of her hospital door and saw her brother sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

"I'll take Brendon with me." Anna said, still looking at him. "I haven't really gotten to talk to him since we got back."

Anna looked back at her parents to see that they were staring at Brendon too. They turned and looked at each other and had a conversation with their eyes.

"Fine." Her father said. "But don't be out there too long."

"Thanks." She said cheerfully as she walked out of her hospital door and over to her brother.

She approached him slowly. "Hi." She said.

He looked up at her with red eyes. He squinted as he looked at her.

"Hi." He said back in a groggy voice.

Anna swayed from side to side as she looked at him. "I'm going to go take a walk in the garden and I wanted you to come with me."

Brendon shook his head. "Nah."

Anna's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I don't want to walk in a dumb garden. It's stupid." He said. His voice was groggy.

Anna grabbed his hand and tugged on it. "Come on, Brendon." She grunted. "Don't you want to spend quality time with your sister?"

He shook his head. "No."

Anna let go of his hand and let it drop to his side. She felt her eyes start to fill with tears.

"Fine." She said through gritted teeth. "Be that way."

She turned and stomped off, not looking behind her.

She turned the corner and stopped. She listened for footsteps but she didn't hear any.

A tear fell down her face as she turned back to the hallway.

Did her brother not care that she was back? She's been kidnapped for over a month and he didn't seem to care one bit.

She wiped her tear away and took a deep breath.

She heard a door slam somewhere in the distance and screamed. She ducked down and covered her head as the memory came back.

She pinched her eyes closed as the image of her shooting Chelsey came back for the millionth time today.

Every time there was a loud abrupt, noise, the memory came back.

No matter what Anna did, she couldn't get it out of her head.

Her doctors had said that there wasn't much wrong with her besides her broken fingers and her being very overweight, and a small case of PTSD, but Anna was pretty sure that she was being drowned in guilt.

While still being held captive by A, Anna felt no remorse to the fact that she had shot and _killed_ someone, but now that she was out and actually had time to think, it was all coming back. She couldn't stand that fact that someone's heart stopped beating because of her, and someone's family had one less member because of her. Nobody should have to go through that pain, even if that person's family is Chelsey's.

The memory faded as she heard someone calling her name.

"Anna!" They called. "Anna, are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and saw that Brendon was crouched down next to Anna in a corner.

She wiped the tears off her cheeks and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Brendon grabbed Anna's arm and helped her up. "What just happened?"

Anna opened her mouth and was about to tell him how she killed Chelsey, but then she quickly stopped herself. How would he react to that? How could he live with the fact that his sister _killed_ someone.

"I just had a memory." Anna said. That was kind of the truth.

"Of what?" Brendon asked.

Anna looked over his shoulder and started walking down the hallway. "Something I did…in order to survive."

Brendon caught up to Anna and stared at her with a shocked expression. "What did you do?"

Anna shook her head as she got to the elevator. "I don't want to talk about it."

Thankfully, Brendon didn't question it.

The elevator door opened and an old woman in a wheelchair with a nurse pushing her exited. Anna and Brendon stepped in after them.

"Where are we going?" Brendon asked, his voice slow.

"The garden." Anna answered.

Brendon groaned but didn't say anything. She pressed the lobby button and the elevator quickly descended.

The door opened with a ding and the got out and walked to the garden without saying a word.

The beautiful smell of all the flowers filled Anna's nose and she took it in happily.

It wasn't until they were halfway through the garden that Brendon finally spoke.

"So, are you okay?"

Anna sighed. He _did_ care.

"I'm a little shook up but I'm okay." She lied.

Brendon wobbled a little and Anna stopped to hold him straight.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He straightened himself and slowly put a hand to his head. "Yeah…yeah I'm okay."

Anna looked him in the eyes and saw that they were a light shade of red.

She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. "No you're not." She said.

He swiped her hands away and turned around.

"I'm fine." He said his voice raspy.

Anna stomped her foot and stared at the back of Brendon's head. "Brendon Peter Cavanaugh tell me what the hell is wrong right now!"

He turned his head a little and Anna saw his eyes were wet.

"It's been a hard month, okay."

Anna walked over to him and looked into his eyes with tears starting to form in hers.

"What have you been doing to yourself?" She asked, her voice shaking.

He shook his head and covered his face with his hands. "Don't tell mom and dad."

Anna's jaw dropped as she looked at Brendon. "What did you do?"

He removed his hands and Anna saw his wet cheeks.

"My friend has anti-depressants and… It hit me hard when you went missing and I asked for some…" He stammered.

Anna's heart dropped. "You're on drugs?" She asked in astonishment.

He swallowed hard. Anna watched his Adam's apple bob up and down.

"Like I said, it's been a hard month." He said quietly.

Anna walked over to him and looked him in the eyes. Tears run down her cheeks.

"When did you last take the pills?" She asked quietly.

"This morning."

Anna sighed. "Do you have them on you right now?"

He nodded and pulled out a Ziploc bag with a few pills in it.

Anna reached out and grabbed it and walked over to the lion statue that was sitting next to the lilacs.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Anna didn't reply as she lifted the statue up and began to crush the pills with it.

Brendon ran at Anna and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Anna, stop!" He yelled. He threw Anna back and she went tumbling to the ground.

She gasped as her head hit the ground, and when she looked up she saw that Brendon was standing over her with his jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry." He cried. "I'm sorry, I'm so messed up right now…I…I don't know what I'm doing."

Anna stood up and wrapped her arms around her brother. He cried into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He kept repeating.

Anna shushed him. "Just stop, okay. I'm home now."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize!" Anna yelled. "Everyone goes through rough patches in their lives."

"I'm sorry for getting you kidnapped!" He cried.

Anna pushed away from him and stared at his red face.

"What?" Anna asked, her voice small.

"I'm the reason you and your friends were taken."

Anna walked over to the bench next to the lion statue and sat down. "Explain." Was all she was able to say.

Brendon walked to the bench and sat down on the other side of it.

"Remember when you caught me sneaking into A's lair? Well, A gave me a choice."

Anna looked at her brother, tears running down both of their faces.

"She said that I had to kill Zak, or she would do…something…to you. They didn't say what, but that was enough for me to do it."

Anna's hands shook as she listened to Brendon. "But you didn't kill Zak. He's still alive."

Brendon shook his head. "I thought I killed him. I found him and beat him senseless and when I left him in that ditch, I thought I had killed him, and this guilt filled me and it was so unbearable, but I knew that you would be safe from whatever A had planned. I was going to send a note to A the next morning saying I had done it, but when I woke up, I saw the news say that Zak was dead and that he was killed by _gunshot_ and that Kara had witnessed it. I never shot him and Kara was nowhere around, so I knew I screwed up."

Anna kept her mouth shut. She wanted to tell Brendon that she understood what if felt like to kill someone, but now wasn't the time.

"A must have of thought that _I_ shot Zak and dressed up like A like how Kara said, and they were quiet for the next few days, and I thought everything was cool, but then Kara went to jail for murder and then you all went missing." Brendon said, his voice cracking. "Zak was still 'dead' so I was so confused on why A took you when they _promised_ that they wouldn't harm you, but it was stupid for me to trust Victoria."

Anna opened her mouth. "You did _not_ cause this."

He whipped away his tears. "Why else would A take you?"

"Because she's a psychopath who's only goal in life was to make us all feel miserable!" Anna yelled back.

Brendon shook his head. "That night hasn't left my head since the day it happened. I wish I could go back to it and make sure that Zak was actually dead before I left him. If I actually would have killed him, then maybe A would have left you and the others alone."

Anna felt her heart skip a beat. "Brendon, don't _ever_ say that again."

He looked at her. "It's the truth, An."

She shook her head. "The guilt you said you felt, it would feel _so_ much worse if you knew you actually killed him."

Brendon slapped his hands on the bench. "How would you know?"

Anna swallowed hard. "Because I've killed someone."

Brendon shot his head up and looked at Anna, his mouth was hanging open.

"What?" He asked, his voice small.

"I killed someone." Anna said. Her voice cracked as she said it. It was so much harder saying it out loud, it made it sound _real._ Saying it out loud meant that she finally came to terms with what she did.

"What…when?" Brendon stammered.

"Back when A had us. Chelsey was going to kill us. She had a gun in her hands but I got it and shot her. I didn't even hesitate." Anna said. She looked down at the dirt below her feet.

Brendon was silent.

"It's been eating me up inside and the pain kills me, but I did it and I have to deal with it, and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to go through and I pray that you never have to feel what I felt."

She looked back up at her brother and saw that he was still crying. Anna had stopped.

"Is that the memory that you got in the hallway?" He asked.

Anna nodded.

He looked ahead of him with an emotionless look on his face.

"Thanks for telling me." He said in a low voice.

Anna looked at him. "Are you okay with that?"

Brendon lifted his shoulders up and down. "It's weird and terrifying, but you did what you had to do so…yeah, I'm okay with it."

Anna released a breath she didn't know she was holding. In a way, she was relieved and disappointed.

She stood up and at the flowers in front of her. It was a field of red roses.

Brendon stood up and walked behind her. He stared at the flowers in silence.

Anna's eyes focused on the odd flower in the bunch. Near the front of the field, there was a lone black rose in the middle of all the red ones.

Anna reached down and picked it. She stared at its black petals, and a certain someone came to mind.

"Come on." Anna said as she started to walk back to the hospital.

"What are you going to do with that?" Brendon asked from behind her.

"I want to give it to someone." Anna said. Brendon was silent behind her.

She walked into the hospital doors and as she passed the front door, she head people screaming at her through the doors.

"Anna, Anna!" Reporters yelled. "What are your thought on your kidnapper being treated in the same hospital as you and your friends?"

Anna turned and looked at the group. She held the flower close to her chest.

She saw a camera pressed up against the glass and she looked into its lens.

"Funny." She answered.

She turned away as the reporters wrote in their notepads and other screamed out more questions, but Anna ignored them and walked up to the front desk.

"Hello there!" The lady said in a happy voice. "What can I do or you?"

"I'd like to send something to a patient." Anna said, her voice in monotone.

Anna looked at the T.V behind the woman's head, it was on mute but a picture of Victoria's police picture was on the screen. The news anchor was definitely explaining for the millionth time what was going on.

"Okay, to what room?" The lady asked.

"I'm not sure what the room number is, but her first name is Victoria." Anna said.

Brendon made a weird noise behind Anna, but she ignored him.

The lady made a strange face. "Victoria? As in the kidnapper?"

Anna nodded.

"You do know what she did to those kids right? It's just awful!" The lady said in a harsh tone.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I heard about it, but I really want to give this to her." Anna said as she held up the black rose.

Anna felt herself laughing inside as she talked to this woman. She was so angry at Victoria for what she had done, but she didn't even recognize Anna as one of the four kidnapped girls.

The lady made a funny face but she got out a slip of paper and a pen.

"What do you want me to sign on it?" She asked.

Anna looked at the lady as a smirk fell off her face. "I just want you to put one letter." She said.

"And which letter is that?" She asked.

Anna looked back up at the T.V and saw a slide show of pictures of herself flash across the screen.

She looked at the woman.

"A."

* * *

"Kara, age seventeen, was in fact arrested for the murder of Zak Brighton before she was kidnapped! All the clues led to her, and her trial was very soon when all of a sudden…she went missing." The news anchor said.

Kara rolled her eyes as she reached for the T.V remote on her nightstand, but it was just out of reach and she was too lazy to get out of her hospital bed.

A picture of Kara's mugshot appeared on the screen.

"Now that we know who A, the kidnapper, was actually a head police officer, _and_ the one to call the arrest on Kara, it's pretty easy to say it was a set-up, but police haven't confirmed what they are going to do about the charges, but with Zak coming out as being alive, it's safe to say that the charges will be lifted."

Kara sighed at that. It _was_ kind of weird how the police _still_ haven't talked to her about this whole arrest thing. It wasn't like she was contagious with anything.

All she had were few bruised areas, a slight concussion and PTSD, but who out of the group _didn't_ have PTSD? The doctors were also testing her for Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis, whatever that was, because she kept coughing and had a runny nose.

Kara jumped a little when she heard a bang on her door. She turned her head to the side and saw a shadow in the window, but she only saw it for a brief second.

Her heart rate began to speed up as she slowly got out of her bed. She looked around for something to defend herself, but the hospital was fresh out of bats.

Kara grabbed the lamp on her nightstand figuring it was good enough and slowly walked towards the door.

The shadow flashed again and all Kara saw was black. She stopped dead in her steps as she felt her heart literally stop.

She was told that they had A, or Victoria, or whatever the bitch preferred to be called, was prohibited from leaving her hospital room and there were police officers watching her every move, so how the hell did she get out?

Kara started to move again and she leaned against the wall that the door was on.

She heard another loud bang and she flinched, but she powered through her pain and reached for the door handle.

She closed her eyes and counted to three.

1…2..3…!

She flung the door open and lunged for the person there.

"Ahh!" She yelled as she lifted the lamp up, but when she brought the lamp down to hit the intruder, she saw that nobody was there.

Well, there _were_ people in the waiting room of the hospital who were looking at Kara as if she was crazy, but nobody was dressed in black the only person in the hallway by the door was a woman rolling herself along in a wheelchair, and she was too shot to reach the window in the door.

She saw her parents get up from their seats and rush over to her.

"What happened?" Hanna asked as she reached Kara. She looked at the lamp in Kara's hands.

"Why do you have a lamp?" Caleb added.

Kara looked down at the ugly beige lamp in her hand and up at her parents.

"I…I saw A…but…" She stammered. She was still so confused on how fast they ran away.

Her parents sighed. Caleb leaned down and put his hands on Kara's shoulders. "Honey, Victoria is gone from your life. She is under constant watch and she isn't even on this floor of the hospital."

Kara began to take short, deep breaths in and out. "But…but… someone was banging on my door and watching me from the window, and they were dressed in all black!" Kara cried, her voice cracked.

Hanna shook her head. "Nobody walked by your door, Kara. I've been watching this whole time and nobody has banged on your door."

Kara shook her head violently. "No!" She yelled. "Okay, someone was trying to mess with me!"

"Kara, calm down." Her father said in a calming voice. "This could just be your PTSD and you could be hallucinating."

Kara leaned up against the wall as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. "No, it couldn't be. It was so _real_."

"That's the terrible thing about PTSD, Kara." Hanna said. She reached out and wiped the tear off of Kara's cheek.

She took a shaky breath in. "And you're both sure you didn't see anyone?"

They nodded.

Kara angrily banged her head on the wall once, which was totally _not_ good for her concussion, but the pain was better than the hallucinations.

"Maybe you should go back to bed." Hanna said as she grabbed Kara's hands.

She slowly shook her head. "No, I'm sick of that room."

"Then why don't you see if you can talk to Zoe, Anna and Rose." Caleb suggested.

Kara took a deep breath. It's been a day and she still hasn't seen them, and maybe talking to them will clear her head.

"Okay." She finally said. "Where are their rooms?"

Her mom lifted her shoulders up and down. "Were not sure. All we know is that they're on this floor."

Kara nodded. Maybe a little exploration was good for her.

She turned and walked down the hallway and looked at all the names on the doors.

She was walked down two hallways and found nothing. Her head was beginning to pound.

If she didn't see someone's name soon, she was going to explode.

She turned another corner and saw some familiar faces.

Kara ran up to them.

"Hi." She said as she approached them.

Alison and Emily both looked up at Kara with warm eyes.

"Hi, Kara." Emily said. "How are you?"

She awkwardly scratched her arm. "I'm a little rough around the edges but overall, I think I'm okay."

"That's good." Alison said with a big smile.

Kara exhaled loudly. "How's Zoe?"

Both of their faces immediately turned sad.

"She has pneumonia, and we haven't been able to see her yet." Emily said.

"Plus, her back is pretty infected." Alison added.

Kara frowned. "You haven't been able to see her?"

They nodded. "We will be able to in a few hours when she's taken a full twenty four hours of antibiotics, so we just need to stay together until we can."

Kara nodded. That must be _so_ hard for them. They finally got their daughter back and they can't even see her. The only thing standing in the way of them and their child was a wall.

Someone came up from behind Kara and she jumped, but she saw that it was just Jason.

"Jason?" Kara asked. She hadn't seen him in _forever._

"Hi, Kara." He said with a smile. "Sorry for scaring you, I noticed that you jumped."

Kara shook her head. "Its fine, you didn't scare me. It was just the PTSD."

"Sorry to hear about that."

"Yeah me too."

Kara looked at what he was holding in his hands. He was holding two coffee cups.

He handed them to Zoe's moms.

"Thanks, so much Jason." Alison said as she grabbed the coffee from his hands.

"You're a life saver." Emily added as she took a sip.

Jason gave them his sinister, charming smile and sat down. "You're welcome."

"Where did you get those?" Kara asked.

"You really shouldn't be drinking coffee, Kara." Jason said as he crossed his arms.

She sighed. "I'm barely functional without it."

Jason sighed. "You wouldn't be allowed to get one anyways. Patients aren't allowed to get anything with their doctor saying they can."

Kara stomped her foot. She really needed some caffeine.

"Do any of you know where Anna or Rose's room is?" Kara asked.

"I think Anna's is in the next hall." Jason said. "I'm not sure about Rose though."

Kara took a few steps back as she headed towards the hall. "Thanks." She said. "I'll be back in a few hours."

She didn't hear their replies as she stomped down the hallway.

Kara kept her eyes wide open as she looked at all the names on the doors. She passed through another hallway without seeing Anna or Zoe's names.

She passed an open door and saw a black hooded figure inside out of the corner of her eye. She stopped in her steps, her heart pounding.

She turned her head to look directly into the room, and her heartrate went down when it was only a coat rack with a black winter jacket on it.

Kara rubbed her eyes and continued walking, hoping that this hallucination thing would stop soon.

In that same hallway, Kara was relieved to see "Anna Cavanaugh" written on the door.

Without even knocking, Kara ripped the door open, but the bed was empty.

Confusion walked over her face as she stared at the empty room.

"Kara?"

She screamed and threw her fists up, ready to fight. That seemed to be her natural reaction to fright now.

She looked at who spoke and put her fists down.

"Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh." Kara said as she put a hand to her rapidly beating heart.

Spencer held her hand out and grabbed Kara's hand. "Don't be sorry, Kara. We shouldn't have jumped out at you like that." She them removed her hand.

Kara smoothed out her hospital dress and looked back at the empty room.

"Where's Anna?" She asked.

"She went on a walk through the garden with Brendon." Toby answered.

Kara nodded. She kind of wished she had a sibling. Don't get her wrong, she was _grateful_ that she was back with her parents and she loved them more than anything, but it would be nice to talk to someone else.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" Kara asked in a small voice.

They both shook their head. "They left a few minutes ago so it might be a while." Mrs. Cavanaugh said.

Kara nodded, slightly disappointed.

She tried her best to keep the conversation flowing, she liked talking to other people.

"Did you hear that Jason was here?" Kara asked Spencer. She knew that they were half-siblings, so it seemed like Spencer was obligated to know.

But, Spencer's eyes widened in shock, so Kara guesses that she hadn't known.

"No, I didn't know that." She said in a low tone. She turned to her husband. "Why wouldn't he tell me he was here?" She said in a loud whisper.

Kara pretended she hadn't heard and picked at the hospital wristband on her wrist.

"He's probably busy with Zoe. She is his daughter you know." Toby whispered back.

"Kara, if you don't mind, we're going to go talk to him." Spencer said.

Kara shot her head up from her wristband and nodded. "That's fine."

So much for keeping the conversation going.

"Do you know where her room is?" Toby asked.

Kara nodded and pointed at the hallway behind her. "Just keep following this hallway for a few rows of rooms and you'll find him."

They nodded. "Thanks again." They said at the same time.

Kara gave them a half-smile as a response.

"Feel better soon, honey." Spencer said as she walked off.

Kara didn't say anything as they walked away. She just stood there and itched at her right hand without even looking at it. She stopped when she felt a warm liquid.

She looked down at her burned hand. The memory of the carousel came back and Kara pinched her eyes closed and tried her best to get the memory out of her head.

A tear fell down her face as she pushed it out and she looked down at her branded hand. When she first got it, it had said the word "Bitch" but after picking at it and new layers of skin developing, it turned into just an ugly burn mark.

She let it bleed as she walked to find Rose's room.

It didn't take her that long to find it. After turning down one hallway, Kara saw Mr. Fitz get out of the elevator with Pigtunia, Rose's pig puppet, in his hand.

Kara trailed him as he sped walk down the hallways. He stopped when it got to a circular dead end. Kara saw him walk up to Rose's mom and she started talking to him.

Kara ran up to them. "Is Rose okay?" Kara asked, completely interrupting their conversation.

They looked at Kara with a look of worry, and then they looked at each other.

"She's fine, Kara." Ezra said in a calm voice. He was still holding the puppet.

"Can I please go talk to her?" Kara pleaded.

Aria took a step forwards and looked Kara in the eyes. "She's asleep. And I _would_ let you wake her up but she hasn't been able to stay asleep since you all got back and she needs sleep."

Kara nodded her head. She understood, she also hasn't been able to get any sleep, but she was also pretty annoyed.

It seemed like _nobody_ had time for Kara. Everyone was off doing their own things and Kara was left to suffer through the pain of the unknown.

"Okay, thanks. I'll come back when she's awake." Kara said as she walked off.

Both of their mouths hung open as Kara walked off. They were probably planning on having a conversation, but Kara wasn't in the mood to fake smile and lie about how she was fine.

She turned the corner and got into the nearest elevator. It was empty, thank god.

She didn't know where she wanted to go, so she blindly clicked the first floor. The elevator started to move and she turned around and looked at herself in the elevator mirror.

She looked _disgusting._ Her hair was a mess, she was bony, her eyes looked dead, and she had blotchy red patches all over her face.

She wished Owen would come visit her and bring her some concealer or something, but he still hasn't come to visit her.

It kind of made her sad. She's been back for a day, so why hasn't he come to see her?

She closed her eyes and shook her head and tried to get the bad thought out of her head.

"There's a reason why, Kara." She said to herself. "He'll come to you as soon as he can."

When she opened her eyes, she saw someone standing behind her.

She screamed as she looked at A behind her in the mirror. She turned around to face them, but when she did, they were gone.

She took deep breaths as she brought her heartrate down. The door opened and a middle aged couple looked at her as if she was crazy.

Well, maybe Kara actually was.

She scooched out of the elevator and walked down the hallway that looked identical to Kara's floor.

She stormed down the hallway, not really paying attention to anything in front of her.

But as she turned down a hallway, she saw a name out of the corner of her eye and her body immediately reacted and stopped in its tracks.

She looked at the name on the plaque.

"Victoria."

There wasn't a last name.

Could this be _the_ Victoria? There were thousands of Victoria's in the world, what were the chances that this was _the_ Victoria.

She looked through the window in the door and he heart skipped a beat.

She saw Victoria, her Victoria, sitting in her bed, a blank stare on her face. She was staring at someone across the room.

Kara adjusted herself so she could see who Victoria was talking to, and she felt her heart rate pick up.

It couldn't be…why would she be talking to Victoria?

Why was Mona even allowed in her room?

Kara watched as they had a heated conversation, but she saw the emotions change on their faces change from anger to sympathy.

A tear fell down Mona's face and Kara saw her lips form the words "I'm sorry."

"What the fuck?" Kara grunted under her breath.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she flinched.

"Excuse me." A doctor said. "But you can't be here."

Kara pointed at the door. "I want to see Victoria."

The doctor put his hand on the door and shook his head "I'm sorry. You can only see her if you are a police officer or family."

Kara slapped her hands down to her sides. "But Mona's in there!" She said more to herself.

The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

He opened the door and walked inside.

As the door was closing, Victoria turned her head and looked at Kara. They made eye contact, and it wasn't broken until the door was closed.

Kara was petrified in place. Her heart beat sped up as she felt Victoria's gaze lingering on Kara's body.

She took a step back and she almost fell down.

Family only? But…Mona was in there. How?

Unless…

Kara turned around and sprinted towards the elevator. This was too much. It was the hallucinations again.

It had to be.

There was no way…

Kara pressed the level eleven, her floor number, button over and over again.

She needed to sleep. Maybe if she got some sleep, the hallucinations would go away, and Mona would say that she never talked to Victoria, because that was ridiculous.

The elevator door opened and two female nurses were on the other side, chatting. One even laughed.

How could they be laughing at a time like this? Kara was going insane and they were laughing?

She must have had a crazy look on her face, because the nurses stared at Kara with a concerned looks.

"Are you okay?" One of them asked

Kara shook her head. "No, I'm…I'm…"

Kara stammered as she started to sway.

She felt dehydrated, and she could barely keep her eyes open. She was extremely light headed, and she was starting to lose the feeling in her toes.

And then she was falling to the ground.

The nurses reached out to catch her, but they didn't get to her in time.

She crashed into the ground, and as one of the nurses screamed for a doctor, Kara felt her eyes roll to the back of her head, and then everything was black.

Finally, she would get the sleep she needed.

* * *

 **AN: Ahhhh!**

 **So** _ **a lot**_ **happened.**

 **Also, I know that I didn't post last week, but that was because this chapter was pretty dang long and I didn't want to separate it into two chapters because I feel like it wouldn't flow right.**

 **Also, why was Mona with Victoria? Hmmmmmmm idk.**

 **Anyways, review and tell me how you feel about all of the girl's injuries and stuff. I'm curious.**

 **Alright, I'll try to see you next week.**

 **-Jessica**


	54. Voices

**AN: Hi guys! Sorry I'm updating so late, I was gone all last night and I left really early this morning to go to the zoo and I just got home, so again, I apologize.**

 **Sailor Spicky followed and favorited so thanks! :)**

 **Annnnnnnnd I still suck at writing anons but whatever.**

 **Lets go!**

* * *

Everyone was _finally_ allowed to see everyone and for some reason, Anna _wasn't_ excited.

Ever since her talk with Brendon, she's been feeling pretty out of it, and she still gets constant flashbacks of her…killing…Chelsey.

"Do you know where the room is?" Her nurse asked.

Anna shook her head, kind of in a daze. "No."

The nurse pointed down the hallway. "Keep going this way and turn the corner and it is the third door on the left. There will be a nametag on the nightstand next to your bed. All your medications should be there as well."

Anna nodded, still in a trance. She then started to walk.

While walking, she had no idea what was going on around her. Someone could be in one of these rooms dying and another could be waking from their coma that they've been in for eight years, and Anna wouldn't know nor care.

The only thing running through Anna's brain was Chelsey.

Chelsey...

Chelsey...

Chelsey...

She wished she could get that stupid name out of her head, but every time she closed her eyes, Chelsey's face was there, laughing.

" _How pathetic."_ She would say. _"You kill me and you can't even be brave enough to boast about it. I've been hurting you for months and you dropped me off the map, and you regret it? Killing me was a big waste then."_

Anna put her hand to her ears but that didn't stop the constant mocking.

She continued to walk in front of her, still having no idea of what was going on in the world around her.

" _Oh come on, Anna! Honestly, my death is hurting you more than my parents. My little sister cried less."_ Her voice echoed.

"Shut up!" Anna yelled, stumbling in her step.

" _Wow, she speaks! I guess that's progress."_

"Shut up!"

" _They haven't even found my body yet."_ She said in a quiet voice. _"My parents filed a missing person's report, and they thought that I was kidnapped with you, but little did they know. I didn't want to see them because I was scared they would be ashamed of me, but now I can't tell them anything. I'm in a body bag somewhere, buried six feet under. When they didn't see me with you guys, it broke my family apart."_

"I'm sorry!" Anna yelled, hands still over her ears.

"Sorry for what?" It was a different voice speaking now.

Anna opened her eyes and saw Rose standing in front of her.

"Rose?" Anna said, her voice scratchy.

She nodded and smiled. She opened her arms wide. "Hi!" She yelled. She then wrapped her arms around Anna.

Anna's muscles were tightened at first, but they then relaxed after her body realized it was just Rose.

She wrapped her arms around Rose. "Hi." She said with little enthusiasm.

She should be happier! She hasn't seen Rose in a month, and it was almost like Anna didn't care.

Rose backed off and looked at Anna in the eyes. A concerned look washed over her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

Rose nodded. "Who were you yelling at down there?"

Anna's eyes grew wide. "Huh?"

"You were yelling at someone." Rose said, her voice sounded confused.

"It was my nurse." Anna lied. "She was trying to convince me to stay in my room for a few more hours."

Rose's mouth opened a little. "Oh, how rude of her."

"Yeah, I know right." Anna said, playing the lie.

Rose pointed to the room behind her. "Everyone's in there if you want to go see them."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Rose turned and walked to the room while Anna followed. She missed her friends so much, but she kind of didn't want to see them yet.

This Chelsey-mind speaking thing could happen at any moment and she _really_ didn't want it to happen while she was with her friends. They would ask her about it and then she would have to talk about killing Chelsey again and Anna didn't think she could do that. Not now at least.

When Anna walked in the door, she saw Zoe lying in her bed and Kara was sitting at her bedside talking to her.

"…It's crazy, just wait 'til you hear." Kara said. She then looked up and saw Rose and Anna.

Kara got up and walked over to them.

"Anna!" She squealed as she hugged her. Anna hugged back and took in Kara's familiar scent of cinnamon. Somehow, even in the hospital, she still smelt good.

"Hi, Kara." Anna said as she broke from Kara's grasp. She looked over Kara's shoulder at Zoe. She walked over to her.

"Hi, Zoe." Anna said as she crouched down so she was sitting next to Zoe.

"Hi." She said. "I wish I could get up but then I'll stat coughing and I don't want to give you guys something."

"You aren't contagious anymore." Kara called from across the room.

"I'm not taking any chances." She then coughed a couple of times but she got it under control. Anna handed Zoe her water on the bedside table. Zoe took it gratefully.

"Have any of you guys been watching the news lately?" Kara asked.

"It's disgusting!" Zoe yelled. "How are they allowed to tell our life stories like that?"

"The local news is a tricky game." Rose said.

Anna's eyes were wide. "They're talking about our lives on the news?"

Everyone looked at her.

"Well duh." Kara said.

Anna put a hand to her head. "Have they said anything about Chelsey?"

" _Nope."_ Came Chelsey's voice.

Anna blinked hard and it went away.

They shook their heads.

"I don't think so." Zoe answered.

Anna found her bed and sat in it. "I think I should tell them."

"Tell who what?" Rose asked. She sat down on her bed too.

"I think I should tell the cops that I killed Chelsey." Anna said loudly.

Kara sprang forwards at Anna. "Shh!" She sounded. "They'll hear you."

Anna shook her head. "Guys, I killed someone." She said as she stared at the ground. "And right now, her family has no idea what happened. They deserve to know what happened."

Kara shook her head. "You don't want to get caught up in a murder case, Anna. It's a dirty business."

Anna looked up at Kara. "Yeah, but you didn't actually kill someone. I did."

" _Yeah you did."_

"Not now!" Anna grunted to Chelsey's voice. Thankfully, nobody heard her.

"Anna, you'll get arrested." Rose said.

"She did it out of self-defense, they shouldn't do that." Kara said. "But still, you don't want to have to go through all those court cases."

Anna put her head in her hands. She was so not prepared to be thinking about this. Her mind was still unstable.

" _Come on, Anna."_ Chelsey's voice came, yet again. " _You can't even tell the cops what you did to me?"_

"Shut up, I'm thinking." Anna said loudly.

"Nobody's said anything." It was Zoe speaking, but Anna shut her eyes and had now switched over to her Chelsey side.

" _You know, I wasn't always working for A you know. When Dylan left me at the Halloween corn maze that night so long ago, A approached me. She told me that she could fix all my problems if I helped her with something, and after being heartbroken by Dylan, I was willing to do anything."_

Anna felt herself shaking. "What did you do?"

" _A was explaining how they were planning to take you and scare you, Anna. I thought it would be a harmless prank, so I agreed. A then ended up drugging me and when I woke up and saw how hurt you were, I realized that I didn't want anything to do with this person. I did not want to hurt anyone!"_

"But…how did you end up with A in the end?" Anna asked, her voice low and quiet.

" _A kept coming to me and kept trying to recruit me but I always said no, but each time got more and more tempting. I eventually gave in when I saw that you and Dylan were a thing, and when you two started to make out in front of me, I wanted some revenge. It started out with little things at first, like spying and stuff. I came up with the cupcake idea."_

Anna remembered when she and Chelsey were in the cupcake shop and Anna had begged Chelsey to look after Dylan and make sure he was safe. After Chelsey left, someone sent cupcakes to Anna with pictures of Dylan on them, all were vandalized to make it look like he was dead.

"That was you?"

" _Yup. Each thing I did felt better and better, and Victoria then trusted me with putting the tracker in Kara, so I snuck into the hospital and injected her with it and Kara had no idea it was me. It was actually fun to see how clueless she was. I also shoved the tracker in Rose's neck, she was really easy, and I had the great pleasure of getting you all, except Zoe, in Noel Kahn's cabin. I should have been more careful because that bitch Zoe snuck up behind me and wacked me."_ She made a guttural noise and continued. _"After that, A came up with the idea to take you all."_

Anna shook her head violently. "No. No that couldn't have been you!" She yelled.

Silence was on the other end.

"Tell me more!" Anna yelled. "What else did you do to us?"

"Anna, wake up!"

Anna shot her eyes open and saw that Kara was shaking her shoulders and that Zoe was Rose were standing above her.

"What the hell just happened?" Zoe asked.

Anna shook her head. "Chelsey…she's been in on it since the beginning."

Rose sat down on Anna's bed. "Anna, Chelsey's dead."

Anna shook her head. "I know, but she's been talking to me." She pointed to her head. "In my head. She comes and goes at random times but she just told be when she started playing the game." Anna turned to look at Kara. "She put the tracker in you!" She looked at Rose. "You too Rose. Plus, she was the one who held us all hostage in Noel Kahn's cabin, then Zoe hit her over the head. That was all her and it all started the night of the corn maze!"

Everyone stared at Anna as if she was crazy.

"Anna, Chelsey is _dead!"_ Kara said after the silence.

Anna stomped her foot. "I know that! Trust me I do, but she's found a way to talk to me and maybe I can convince her to tell me why Victoria started all of this."

Everyone shook their heads.

"Anna, maybe you should talk to someone about this. It's not healthy to hear random voices in your head." Zoe said with sad eyes.

Anna stood up. "You guys don't get it, this could help us!"

"Half of the stuff this voice told you probably wasn't even true, Anna. How are we supposed to believe it?" Rose asked.

"Because it makes since!" Anna yelled.

"What meds is she on?" Kara whispered to Zoe.

"Ugh, fine!" Anna yelled as she stomped to the door. "I'll go talk to somebody who cares."

With that, she was out of the room, storming down the hallway.

She needed to find her parents. They would understand. Anna would have to tell them about how she killed Chelsey, but she was prepared to do that now.

"Anna!"

She stopped in her tracks. She hadn't heard that voice in forever. She turned around and saw him.

She didn't even think, she just ran at Dylan and jumped in his arms.

Not much was said because they were both crying into each other.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Dylan kept repeating.

"I'm fine." Anna would answer back. "I'm okay."

Dylan kissed Anna and she felt her body melt. She missed the feeling of his lips on hers.

They broke apart and Dylan stared at her. "I can't believe you're here."

Anna grabbed his hands. "I have so much to tell you."

Dylan squeezed her hand and walked her to empty chairs in the hallway.

After they sat, he reached his hand up and caressed Anna's cheek. "I missed you so much."

Anna grabbed his hand on his cheek. "I missed you too. I've gone through so much...and nobody believes me and..."

"Stop right there." Dylan said as he removed his hand. What do you need to tell me?"

"Everyone else thinks I'm crazy, but they don't understand. But do you trust me?" Anna asked.

Dylan nodded his head. "Of course I do."

Anna took a deep, shaky breath. "Don't freak out but… I killed Chelsey. She was going to hurt me so I had to do something."

Anna could see fear grow in his eyes, but it quickly calmed down.

He was silent."

"Are you okay?" She asked.

His stare was blank, but after a couple of seconds he slowly nodded. "She was going to kill you?"

"She was going to kill all of us."

 _"No I wasn't. You didn't even give me a chance!"_

Anna blinked hard and blocked the voice out. A tear fell down her cheek as well.

Dylan took a deep breath. "If you _had_ to do it, then i'm okay with it. But... why? What was going on?"

"I'll explain it more later, but the crazy thing is, ever since this morning, I've heard her voice in her head, and she's telling me these things and I think that I can maybe convince her to tell me why Victoria was doing all these things to us."

Dylan stared at her, speechless.

It was scary how long he just stood there, staring. Anna felt her heart rate speed up by the second.

He released a big breath. "Okay…" He said. "What has she said?"

Anna felt a weight lift off her chest. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

She quickly explained everything.

Dylan nodded his head as he took all this news in. "And you think you can ask her why A this to you all?"

Anna nodded her head. "It will take time, but I'll do it."

"How do you know its all true?" He asked.

Anna shook her head slightly. "It makes since. And i'm going to ask Victoria. I know she's a lying bitch but i don't really think she has anything else to lie about."

Dylan looked unsure, but he still said, "Then do it. I believe you can."

Anna smiled and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again.

Finally, someone who listened.

And finally someone who _believed_ her.

* * *

"She's insane." Kara said as she and the others waited for Anna to come back.

"Don't say that, Kara." Zoe said. She had moved back to her bed. "We all have stuff wrong with us, maybe this is just something she has."

"What's the diagnosis for hearing _dead people_? Oh, yeah, that's right: Insanity." Kara said as paced around the room.

"We didn't even give her a chance." Rose said as she looked at the door. She was probably watching for Anna.

Kara shook her head. She wanted to believe Anna, she really did, but…she just couldn't. This was too crazy.

"Guys, she's hearing the voice of the person she murdered." Kara made sure to whisper that. There were doctors everywhere. "That's not normal."

"Yeah but did you hear the way she was talking to herself? She just zoned us out and seemed like she was having an argument with something in her head. It _could_ have been Chelsey's voice." Zoe said. She then started to cough.

"But that's so…" Rose trailed off after Zoe had stopped coughing.

"Insane?" Kara filled in the blank.

Both Rose and Zoe stared at Kara. They knew she was right.

Kara stopped pacing and stood in the middle of the room. "Okay, let's just say she is hearing Chelsey's voice because… I don't know that's her way of dealing with the guilt, but nothing this voice is telling her can be true. It's her mind's own way of making sure Anna doesn't blow up, so it just could be telling her these lies to make her feel like this thing in her head is important."

"If that's the case, we can't go around saying she's insane." Rose said as she itched her branded hand. "There is something legitimately wrong."

"But we can't go around encouraging it either." Zoe added. "This could be a serious problem and I think we should tell a doctor."

Kara nodded her head. "No, the doctor's here are sketchy." She said as she thought about what happened as she snooped around the hospital.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked,

"It was something I was going to tell you all but Anna decided to have a tantrum." Kara said. She rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"That's only because you guys didn't believe me."

Kara jumped at her voice and she turned her head to look at Anna standing in the doorway.

"But it's fine now." She said as she walked to her bed. "I found someone who does."

"Who?" Zoe asked.

"It doesn't matter right now. What _does_ matter is Kara telling us the reason why the doctors are 'sketchy'." She said with a tired look on her face.

Kara took a deep breath as she looked at Anna. This 'talking to Chelsey' thing was obviously a cry for help, but she didn't know if she could fully trust the doctors here now.

She turned to the other group. "A few hours ago I was walking around to see if I could talk to you, but you were all either doing your own thing or I wasn't allowed to see you. So I got angry and stormed into the elevator and clicked on a random floor. When I got there I roamed the halls and I stopped when I saw a name on one of the doors….Victoria."

There was a small gasp that escaped everyone's lips.

"You found _Victoria's_ room?" Zoe asked.

Kara nodded. "And the weird part was that there was no last name. And after thinking for a while, I've never heard her last name."

Everyone was silent as they thought.

"Quiet!" Anna whispered to herself or Chelsey or whoever.

Kara just sighed and ignored it.

"You're right." Zoe said as she started off at the wall. "What's up with that?"

Kara nodded her head. "I don't know, but there wasn't anyone guarding her door so I looked in the little door and I saw…" She trailed off and looked at Rose. "...I saw Mona."

Rose's forehead crinkled up. "That's impossible."

"I know what I saw, Rose. I thought it was crazy too, but then I thought that maybe Mona was in there to confront Victoria and find out her motives. I mean, Mona _was_ A and she could probably get the truth out, but then I saw Mona cry."

"She was crying?" Anna asked.

Kara nodded.

"Why?" Zoe asked.

"I don't really know, but then I saw Mona say the words 'I'm sorry.'" Kara said as she sat down.

"She said 'I'm sorry.'?" Rose asked, her jaw hanging open.

"Not only that, but she was also crying!" Kara said in hysterics.

"That doesn't make any sense." Zoe said as she rubbed her temples.

"Was she maybe apologizing to us? She could have gone in there to confront Victoria and apologized to us because maybe she helped A. She could have gotten tempted and joined the game and went in there to tell Victoria she was sorry and was saying sorry to us." Zoe pointed out.

Kara shook her head. "No that's not it."

"Then what is it, Kara?" Rose said angrily. "You're saying these crazy things about my _aunt_ and you better have a good point."

Kara took a deep breath. "I was going to stay and watch more but a doctor stopped me. When I said that I wanted to go in and visit Victoria, he said that only police officers and family were allowed to see Victoria, and Mona isn't a police officer."

Rose stood up quickly. "What are you assuming?" She said angrily.

"The only possible explanation is that Mona is somehow family to Victoria." Kara said, also standing up.

"She would have told us about her." Rose said, her hands her in fists. "She wouldn't lie about something like this."

"She actually would." Anna said as she stood up and walked over to Kara and Rose. "I mean, she had a suspected person who she thought was A, so why would she come out and say that she and Victoria are related when this person could be the person who kidnapped us?"

Kara pointed at Anna. "See!"

Rose shook her head violently. "It's not true, okay. I've known her my entire life and she never once mentioned something about a missing relative."

"Maybe that's because she was ashamed of it." Kara said.

Rose stood up and slapped her hands to her sides loudly. "Enough, guys!" She shouted. "Stop accusing my aunt of all this, okay! I'd rather we just go ask her flat out than whisper this behind her back."

Kara's eyes widened. "You want to confront her?"

She nodded. "I'm sick of being stuck in the unknown."

Kara looked at Zoe and Anna and they both also seemed shocked.

"Okay." Zoe said. "Let's go then."

"Where does Mona usually stay when she's not talking with Victoria?" Kara asked; little sarcasm was in her voice.

Rose rolled her eyes. "She's usually out in the waiting room."

Kara nodded. "Well, let's go talk to her."

They all walked out of their hospital room and out to the waiting room. They immediately saw Mona standing by a window, whispering to Mrs. Fitz.

Kara wondered in Mona was telling Aria the weird long-lost family secret, but that probably wasn't it because once Mona shut her mouth, Aria began to laugh.

"Aunt Mona!" Rose called as the girls walked up to them.

Mona and Aria stared at the girls and Kara wasn't able to read their expressions.

"Zoe, you shouldn't be up." Aria said when they all got there.

Zoe coughed but she stopped it. "I'll go back in a minute I just…want to hear this."

"Hear what?" Mona asked.

"I was walking around the hospital and I saw you in Victoria's room." Kara said straight out. She wanted to know the truth, and _fast_.

The color drained from Mona's face.

"You were in Victoria's room?" Aria asked. You could hear the anger and confusion in her voice.

Mona shook her head slightly. "It wasn't for anything serious it was just…"

"Please don't lie." Rose said. "I'm sick of everyone lying to me."

Mona took a deep shaky breath.

Someone was behind her in seconds and Kara recognized him as Mona's husband Mike. Kara wondered if he knew about all of this.

"What's going on?" He asked when he saw everyone gathered up.

Mona looked at him. "Kara saw me in her room." He eyes were pleading for help.

Mike turned to Kara. "And what exactly did you see?" His face was pale too, so he obviously knew what was up.

"I saw Mrs. Montgomery in Victoria's room crying. And then she told Victoria 'I'm sorry.' And when I tried to get in the room, a doctor told me that only police officers and family members can get inside."

Aria gasped and Mona licked her lips and Mike stared at Kara with a slight look of anger.

"Family members?" Aria asked. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Mona looked down at the ground. "Can we talk about this in a more privet setting?"

Aria shook her head. "No, I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on."

Mona looked up at all the kids. "Can they leave then?" She whispered.

Rose shook her head. "No. I have a right to know."

Mike glared at Aria as if he was telling her that she needs to control Rose, but Aria ignored him.

"Explain please." Aria said more as a demand.

Mona stomped her foot as she looked back down at the ground.

"I was a junior in college and I still felt like you all didn't trust me. I mean I get it, I stole a lot from you and if I would have just grown up and never had become A, Cece wouldn't have taken over and our high school lives could have been normal and I just believed that you never got my trust back and I wasn't in a really good part in my life." Mona started.

Kara started at Mona's face. She could see how hard this was on her, but then again, if she was _related_ to the woman who tortured Kara and the others, they all had a right to know.

"It was before Mike came and found me, and I couldn't focus right so I went to a lot of college parties and drank and it is so out of character for me but I did it anyways." Mona said. Her voice was starting to shake.

Kara started at Mona with wide eyes. She somehow knew were this was leading and she didn't know how she would deal with it.

She looked up at Mike with guilt. "I was with a lot of guys during those months and I um… I found out I was pregnant."

Kara's jaw, along with everyone else's, dropped. Lots of people gasped and both Aria and Rose seemed angry.

Kara swallowed hard. "What did you do?" She asked and broke the silence. She needed to hear the whole story.

"I wasn't going to get an abortion, that's just wrong, so I dropped out of college and got a job because, I really _did_ want to raise it, but it just got too stressful and I still needed to get the trust back from your mothers and getting pregnant from a random guy in college wouldn't help, so nine months later when she was born, I gave her up." A tear rolled down Mona's face. "I didn't even hold her. The minute she was out I told the doctors to take her away. I didn't even name her." Her voice cracked.

Kara felt her eyes water, but she refused to cry.

"So… you've had a second kid this whole time?" Aria asked. Her voice was small.

Mona nodded. "The only other person who knew was Mike."

Kara looked down and saw that Mike and Mona were holding hands.

Kara looked at Rose and she saw that she had her head in her hands. She took a deep breath and looked back up.

"How do you know that your baby is Victoria?" Rose asked.

"About a year ago, I got these calls from this woman wondering if I had ever had a kid and when they were born and where and all this stuff, but I never answered these questions, but she somehow figured it out anyways and she kept calling and claiming she was my daughter, but I didn't believe her. She wouldn't stop calling and after a while I wanted to meet her, but at the same time I didn't, because I was ashamed of what I had done to her, and once you all started to get A threats I figured it was the woman on the phone but I had no idea what she looked like, but after being in Rosewood for a while and after talking to Victoria a few times, I kinda just knew."

"And you never said anything?" Anna asked the question everyone was wondering.

Mona lifted her shoulders up. "I couldn't. It wasn't the right time." Another tear rolled down her face.

Kara took another deep breath. "How do you know for sure?"

"Victoria had copies of documents that documented all of her foster care homes and they lead all the way back to the first home which was in the same town as the hospital she was born in. And she had birth records but there wasn't really a way to prove that they were hers but, I took a DNA test last night and I really didn't want them to come back saying she was my daughter, but at the same time, I kinda did and well… they came back saying she _was_ my daughter. I didn't really know how to feel. I was happy I finally found my kid, but I was ashamed that it was her."

Kara shook her head slightly. "Wow." She whispered under her breath.

She wasn't sure how to feel about this. Victoria was related to Mona, which meant that Victoria was Rose's…

"So Victoria is my cousin?" Rose said in a high pitched tone, finishing Kara's thought.

Mona nodded.

A shudder went down Kara's spine.

This was all too much. She _needed_ a break, but Rose wasn't thinking the same.

She turned around and grabbed Kara's hand and they stormed towards the elevator.

"What are we doing?" Kara asked as she turned around and saw the shocked faces of everyone they left behind.

"What floor is Victoria's room on?" She asked angrily.

Kara used her other hand to pull the one held captive by Rose free. Once she did that, she stood in place.

"We are _not_ going to see her." Kara demanded.

Rose stomped her foot. "Did you not hear that whole story? We finally have a clue on why she did these things to us and I just want to talk to her and confirm it!"

Kara looked over her shoulder. Everyone was walking towards them.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Rose." She said.

"Fine, don't come! I'll go myself; just tell me what floor she's on."

Kara blinked slowly. Zoe and the others were now behind the two.

"She's on the first floor." Kara finally answered.

"What's she doing?" Zoe asked in Kara's ear.

"She's going to pay a visit to Victoria." Kara answered.

"What?" Everyone said loudly at the same time.

"Rose, don't." Aria said as she followed Rose to the elevator.

"Mom, this person is not only my kidnapper, but she's also my _cousin._ "

Aria stopped walking and stood in place.

"I need answers." Rose finished as she stepped into the elevator.

Kara groaned and walked over to Rose.

"I'm coming." She said. "I need answers too."

In the next few seconds, all four girls were in the elevator, and the door closed.

The last thing Kara saw was Mona's teary face.

"This is insane." Anna said out loud.

Kara nodded in agreement.

"But this is also a clue." Rose said.

Kara turned to look at her. "Yeah, but also _insane_ "

Nobody said anything and the rest of the elevator ride was in a deafening silence.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, I know the fact that Victoria being Mona's kid is kind of stupid and obvious but I came up with that before I even published the first chapter, and I had no idea that this story was going to get as big as it did, so again, I'm sorry if you aren't really that happy, but it's the best I could do.**

 **Anyways, I think this story might have two or three chapters left so yeah, I'll give you a heads up when I'm going to post the final chapter.**

 **See you next week.**

 **-Jessica**


	55. Assumptions

**AN: Hi again!**

 **We're getting closer and closer to the end :(**

 **Stupidthinker and Kikka412 followed! Thanks!**

 **As kind of a flash back Friday, I was wondering if you all remembered when you first started to read this story? Like, not a specific chapter because there is so many, but what was going on when you caught up?**

 **I want to know if I still have some og fans out there. I know a lot have come and gone but I still love and appreciate all of you!**

 **Alright, enjoy the chapter :)**

* * *

 _Ding_

Rose stormed out of the elevator as soon as the door opened.

This was crazy! Wait, more like _insane!_

Victoria, the psychotic bitch who was been stalking her and her friends for a year, was Rose's cousin?

That alone made Rose want to barf, but the fact that Mona, Victoria's biological _mother_ and also Rose's _aunt,_ knewand she didn't tell anyone was even sicker!

Rose stopped when the hall divided into two different paths.

"Which way is it?" Rose asked Kara who was at her side.

Kara seemed uneasy. "I think we should talk about this before we barge in there."

Rose shook her head. "No. I need to see her _now_."

"We get that you just found out that Victoria is your cousin, Rose, it's a shock to all of us, but we can't just run in there without a plan. She's going to try to manipulate us and there are going to be cops everywhere. We need to find a way to sneak past them and not to mention, but I can barely stand and I need to sit down." Zoe said. A small bit of coughs came from her mouth.

Rose rolled her eyes, disgusted. "Not everything is about you, Zoe." She snarled.

Anna took a step forwards. "And not everything is about you either, Rose. We were all in that warehouse and we all had to go through the torture A put us through, and unlike you, we weren't able to get out and hide in the woods for a month. Bombing Victoria with questions isn't going to work. Once we do get past the cops and doctors, who knows long we'll have until they figure out that we are in there. We need to come up with a list of simple questions that are going to be our top priority."

Rose looked down at the ground. She felt a slight bit ashamed, but this…this was just insane. She needed answers right now, but…Anna's point did make since.

"Okay." Rose said. "I'm sorry, it's just…this is a lot to comprehend."

"We get that; we just need to calm down for a few seconds." Kara said in a soothing voice.

Rose nodded and slid down the wall. She plumped to the ground and everyone gratefully slid down as well. Zoe even exhaled a sign of relief.

"So what do we want to ask her first?" Rose asked.

Everyone looked at each other with blank of stares. There was just too much to ask, what did you dub as most important?

"Why?" Zoe mumbled. "We get that her childhood wasn't the best, but why, out of all people, take it out on us?"

Rose nodded. "I want to know if she even cared that I was her family." A small tear rolled down her cheek. "I want to know that if she ever killed me, if she would have felt any twinge of guilt."

Everyone stared at Rose, looks of sadness was on their faces.

"I want to know how she pulled it off." Anna said as she stared at the wall in front of her. "This whole time she's been around us, helping us, and we never suspected anything."

"And if she didn't get caught, how long would she have kept us." Zoe finished.

Rose began to stand up. She couldn't wait any longer. "I think that's a pretty good list."

Everyone else got up slowly.

Kara looked down the hall to her left. "It's this way."

Rose walked to where her head was facing and looked at all the doors.

They turned a corner and one of the first doors they saw was Victoria's, but there was a cop standing right outside her door.

Before everyone else could turn the corner, Rose stuck her hand out and pushed everyone back.

"What?" Kara asked.

"We forgot about the whole cop thing!" Rose whispered. "What do we do?"

Kara leaned over the corner and a look of confidence washed over her face.

"Okay." She started, "Do not move until him and I are around the other corner." Kara said as she nodded to the cop.

"What are you going to do?" Anna asked.

"I'm getting you all in there." Kara said as she pumped at the hand sanitizer on the wall behind her. The soap was a crimson red.

She splashed it on her crotch and it looked surprising like blood.

"Oh my god, Kara, what the hell?" Anna said as she watched Kara do this.

Kara looked up at all of them. "I'll be back in five minutes. Start without me if you have too."

Rose scrunched up her eyebrows as she stared at Kara. Everyone else had the same expression.

Kara pumped more hand sanitizer on her hands and smeared it a little so her hands looked bloody.

She looked at Rose. "Get the answers you've been asking yourselves."

Rose nodded.

Kara took a deep breath and ran around the corner and at the officer.

Rose barely stuck her head out to see what she was doing.

"Sir!" Kara yelled in a panic.

The officer stared at her and a look of fear washed over his face. His look went immediately to the "blood."

"Please, I need your help." Kara said as she practically ran into his arms.

"Miss, what's wrong?" He said frantically.

"I don't know what happened…" Kara said as fake tears ran down her face. "I was just walking and…" She looked down at her crotch. "I'm pregnant and I have no idea where the gynecologist is."

Rose's jaw dropped and she was pretty sure everybody else's did too.

The officer's eye's widened.

"You're…how…pregnant?" He stammered. "How old are you?"

Kara breathed in a shaky breath and let out a believable amazing sob. "It doesn't matter!" She cried. "Just help me; I don't know what's going on!"

He scratched his bald head and looked around frantically. "Look, I can't leave my post."

Kara let out another sob. "Sir, there is a life on the line!"

He nodded. "Okay…okay…um." He grabbed his walky-talky. "Look, this is an emergency, where is the gynecologist area?"

There was some static on the other line.

"Why?" A female voice asked.

Kara grabbed the walky-talky. "THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, WHERE IS IT!" She screamed.

Rose pinched her eyes closed. How in the hell was Kara pulling this off? She opened her eyes to see that more tears were running down her face and some snot was as well.

"It's on the third floor." The female answered.

"Did you hear that?" The officer asked.

Kara nodded. "You need to take me." She pleaded.

"I can't leave my-"

"Take me!" Kara yelled. "I can't walk it could hurt my baby even more!"

The officer looked both annoyed and concerned, but he rolled his eyes and let Kara rest on his shoulder.

They then waddled towards the elevator while Kara pinched her legs closed.

They then turned around the corner and Rose turned to the others.

"Come on, let's go!" She said.

The three then ran for the door.

"How did she not get recognized?" Zoe huffed.

"The police officers don't take the time to recognize us." Anna answered. "They could care less."

Rose and the others stopped when they reached the door. Rose's eye's scanned the name written on plaque.

 _Victoria_

She would never be able to hear or read that name normally ever again.

"I can't believe she was able to pull that off." Zoe said with humor in her voice.

Rose turned to look at them. "We're here."

They looked at the door and all of the sudden; all of the shock of what Kara had just done was gone. Everyone fell silent.

"Do you remember the list?" Anna asked.

Rose nodded. "Yeah…yeah I do."

"Then let's go." Zoe urged. "We don't have time to waste."

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath and counted to three in her head. When she reached three, she threw open the door.

It was dark inside the room. The only light was coming from the little slab of window that the blinds didn't quite cover up.

Rose, Anna, and Zoe were silent. Rose was petrified in place. She was scared that if she moved, Victoria would lunge at her and drag her back to the warehouse.

"Hello?" Called a voice.

Rose's heart stopped at Victoria's voice. It was so…ordinary. It sounded like an everyday ordinary person you bump into on the streets.

Except, you never really take a second to get to know the person you bumped into, so you never know what's going on inside a person's head.

"I know you're not a police officer of one of my doctors." She said. "You would have turned on a light by now, or made some sarcastic joke."

Rose found the courage to open her mouth. "You're right." She said. "I'm not any of those."

"Ah!" Victoria said sarcastically. "Is that the sweet voice of my beautiful cousin, Rose?"

She balled her hands into fists. She flicked on the lights to see that Victoria was handcuffed down to a chair and she was facing the covered windows. Her chair was bolted down as well. There was no way that she would be able to get up from the chair, and there was no way she could turn around to look at Rose and the others unless someone moved her chair.

"I hope you're ready to talk," Rose said as she walked across the room. "because we have a lot of questions."

Rose grabbed Victoria's chair and pushed it around so she was facing Rose, Anna and Zoe.

Victoria's eyes were dull and sad, her jet black hair was in a knot, and her face was beginning to form wrinkles, but somehow, Rose was still able to see Mona's beautiful face in Victoria's.

Victoria looked at everyone around the room and laughed.

Rose gave her a glare. "What's so funny?"

"The gangs all here!" Victoria said when she stopped laughing. "Well, except Kara. Where is our little jailbird?"

Rose grabbed a chair and sat in it. Zoe and Anna did the same.

"It's not important." Anna said. "All that you need to focus on is us and the things we are going to ask."

"Well, how do you know that I'm going to tell the truth?" Victoria said, her eyes now focused on Anna.

"Because you already know you lost." Zoe said. "You've been caught and you'll never be able to enjoy the suffering of anyone else and you know that."

Victoria glared at Zoe, and surprisingly, Zoe didn't let that faze her. She sat up strong and her face was a sturdy as possible.

"Well hasn't out little insecure little Zoe grown up?" Victoria said as she tilted her head. "I remember when you couldn't even look at yourself in the mirror without hating yourself and cutting because of it."

Zoe stood up. "Don't ever talk about me like that again or I swear to god I will-" She grunted, but Rose stook her hand out and tugged Zoe back into her seat.

"Now isn't the time." Rose whispered.

Victoria chuckled. It was sick how she found this amusing.

Rose cleared her mind tried to think back to the list that everyone made, but in the heat of the moment, Rose had forgotten everything that they all discussed.

"What was your motive?" Anna asked. "We know all about your crap past but we still can't figure out why you did this to _us."_

Thanks god Anna was able to remember. She, along with Zoe, had confidence radiating off of them. Rose on the other hand, was slumped over and was barely able to keep herself together.

"You know nothing about my past!" Victoria half-yelled. "You know nothing about what I had to go through."

"Then tell us!" Rose yelled. "For god's sake, just tell us!"

Victoria looked at Rose with a blank stare.

"For as long as I can remember, I've been forced to move from house to house. But that wasn't really what bothered me, what bothered me was the fact that I didn't know _why_ I was moving from house to house." She began.

Rose sat back and listened. She was scared that if she interrupted, Victoria would stop explaining because Rose was 'ungrateful' or something.

"I never really understood what was going on, and all the other foster kids talked about their mothers. Some mothers left notes to their kids saying that when they could, they would get them, and others had things like necklaces or blankets that their mother gave them, but not me. I was left with a big question mark above my head. Hell, my mother didn't even give me a name! Some old nun gave it to me because it meant "victory" and it was a great honor to have such a good name, but I think she was insane." She then burst into a fit of laughter.

Rose made eye contact Zoe and Anna. They both looked uneasy but still, nobody interrupted.

"I asked about my mother all the time, and _everyone_ would just shut their mouths and walk away. I knew where they kept the records, but before I could get to them I was moved to my first house. They hated me there and they only wanted the money." She chuckled. "They would find any reason to beat me. I ran down the hall, _smack!_ I didn't eat all my food, _smack!_ I sneeze, _smack!_ It was the same everywhere I went, but when I turned eighteen and moved out, life was amazing. I went to the academy and became a police officer and every time I saved someone's life, I got this warm feeling in my stomach and it was amazing. There was this one old lady who lost her cat, and when I found it, she told me that she loved me. And then it hit me…that was the first time someone had ever told me that."

Rose's eyes darted to the floor. She kind of felt sad for Victoria, but then she remembered everything that she had done to her and the others and the sadness was gone.

The door opened behind them and Rose's heart dropped because she thought it was the police, but it was only Kara.

She gave Victoria a disgusted look and sat down next to Rose.

"What did I miss?" She asked.

Rose looked at Victoria. "She had a bad childhood and blah blah blah. Nothing too important."

Victoria glared at Rose and was silent.

"Keep going." Kara said snottily. "Don't let my presence scare you."

She rolled her eyes. "I began to wonder about my mother after that. I used my 'I'm a police officer' card to get into the orphanage I was first in to get my records. Those bitches didn't even realize it was me. I got the file and when I opened it, it only gave me a few things. One of them was my mother's name...Mona"

Rose's heartrate began to speed up. When she looked at Victoria, all she saw was bad, and when she looked at Mona, all she saw was good. How could this monster be the child of Mona?

"There could be millions of Mona's in the world, what made you think it was Mona Vandewaal?" Anna asked.

Victoria looked at her. "Because along with her name, the file also gave me the hospital I was born in and what day. I went to that hospital and I used my police magic again and got a hospital record of every baby born on that day in that hospital. Believe it or not, there was only one person who gave birth that day, and her name was Vivian Darkbloom."

Rose's face scrunched up.

"Vivian Darkbloom?" Zoe asked. "That's definitely not Mona."

"Yeah, idiot I knew that." Victoria said as she rolled her eyes again.

Zoe looked down at the ground.

Victoria looked up at the ceiling."I went home that day and look up at that name and I got tons of articles about this girl named Alison DiLaurentis."

Rose sat up straighter and looked over at Zoe. An uneasy look washed over her face.

"I found article after article about how this Alison girl faked her death and moved all the way to New York to escape someone who was taunting and threatening her and they only went by the letter A." She smirked.

Rose's mouth hung open but she still didn't make a sound. She didn't have anything to say anyways.

Victoria leaned back in her chair. "Now, you may be thinking, 'What does this have to do with the name Vivian Darkbloom, Victoria?' Well, bitches, when little Alison went around and did the things she had to do while she hid like a coward, she went by a fake name…Vivian Darkbloom."

Rose, along with everyone else, gasped.

Rose shook her head violently. "Okay, but how did you find out Mona was your mom?"

Victoria turned her head to the side slightly. "Well, I did a little digging into this story and read all about this A person. After reading all of the glorious things this person did, I finally found a name: Mona Vanderwaal."

Rose felt her palms start to sweat. She knew Mona was A, but every time she heard it, she still couldn't believe it.

"Now, if you remember, Mona was in my file, and the only woman who gave birth was Vivian blah…blah…blah. But smart little me put two and two together and turns out, Mona was the only one who knew that Alison ran off under the name Vivian Darkbloom, so it's pretty much obvious that this Mona was my mother. Years later Mona didn't want anyone to know she had a kid," she pointed at herself, "me, so she she the only fake identity she could think of and that was Alison's split personality."

"Okay, so after you found out what Mona did to everyone, why did you choose to do the same on us?" Kara asked.

"Trust me, I was disgusted at first, but as I read more and more into the story, I began to understand. Unfortunately she was caught and she had to stop, but afterwards, she felt useless and unwanted so she went away to try and earn the trust of all the girls she mistreated: Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields and Alison DiLaurentis."

Rose swallowed hard and stayed silent.

"So why did you come after us?" Zoe asked again. It seemed like Victoria was avoiding the question.

Victoria lurched forwards at Zoe which caused her to fall backwards and yell. Thankfully, Victoria's handcuffs stopped her before she was able to get close to Zoe.

Rose got up and helped Zoe back into her seat. The impact caused Zoe to burst into another coughing fit.

"Is it really that hard to see, bitch!" Victoria yelled as Zoe settle back into her seat. "All of your parents got to live happy lives and have children while my mom was forced to hide in the corner and deal with a child she didn't want!"

Rose stood in front Victoria. "What does that have anything to do with us?!"

Victoria struggled against her handcuffs again. "Because everyone got to have a happy ending so why can't Mona! It just isn't fare!"

Rose was silent as she sat back down.

"For the first time in my life, I felt like I could actually be some use to her. I thought that if I got rid of the threat in her life, she would be proud of everything that I've done and she would _finally_ recognize me as her daughter." A tear ran down Victoria's face.

Rose found her eyes start to water, but she refused to cry.

"I was the very reason why my mom never fully forgave herself. And because of me, she had to carry on this lie and she lost a child. So, if she can't have me, why do your parents deserve you?" Victoria said. She tried to wipe her tears away, but her hand didn't reach that far.

Rose stood up again. "Our parents deserve us because they've had to live through all the shit your mother had done to them. They finally had a shot at normal lives and you had to screw it up! We were all a product of love, and you were a drunk mistake!"

Anna stood up and grabbed Rose's shoulder. "C'mon, sit down." She urged.

Rose shook her off. "No!" She yelled. "You ruined not only my life, but Zoe's life, Kara's life, Anna's life, all of our innocent parent's lives our boyfriends lives your _mother's_ life when you could have just woken up from this stupid daydream and simply confronted Mona!" Rose yelled through gritted teeth.

Victoria slightly nodded her head. "You have ruined _my_ life, but I'm over it now. I suggest you get over it too."

Rose stepped dangerously close to Victoria's face. "I can't get over it because you're still on this earth breathing in my oxygen and living in my town!"

Victoria gritted her teeth. "We all have problems, Rose. Fortunately, I resolved mine, and yours is just starting."

Rose took a step back. "What?"

With that, the doors burst open and a police officer ran it.

"All of you, out NOW!" He yelled.

Rose turned back to Victoria. "What the hell do you mean?"

Victoria only smirked.

"Answer me!" She yelled.

"Rose, get over it, let's go!" Anna urged as she grabbed Rose's arm.

"No!" Rose yelled. "Do you even care that we're family? Your whole reason for this was to get back the trust of your family and I don't know if you forgot, but I'm in it! And just so you know, cousin, you will never _ever_ be welcomed into this family! You will always be known as the disgrace that should have never stepped foot on this Earth!"

A police officer wrapped their arms around Rose's waist and began to drag her out of the room.

Victoria kept eye contact with Rose and she started to laugh.

"You bitch!" Rose yelled.

"Rose, stop!" Zoe yelled as she was also escorted out. "You're only making it worse."

"I hope you rot in your jail cell!" Rose continued to yell. She didn't care what was going on around her. The only thing she was focused on was the psychotic cousin in front of her.

The officer carried her out of the room and before Rose could yell anything else, he slammed the door.

He dragged her down the hallway but Rose tried to get out of his grasp.

She was fired up, and the sound of Victoria's laugh echoing down the hallway was _not_ helping.

* * *

The police officer's grip was so strong on Zoe's arm, that she was positive that it would leave a mark.

There was still so much that she wanted to ask Victoria, but Rose had to freak out and not let anybody say anything.

And because of her, the police barged in and caught them.

"I can't believe it." Rose was saying. The police officer squeezing Zoe's arm off was also holding onto Rose too. "That was ridiculous."

Zoe turned her head over to Rose. "No, Rose, _you're_ ridiculous."

Rose looked at Zoe with a shocked look. "Excuse me?"

"We're all upset and we were all a little freaked out but there was no need to scream and make threats." Zoe said, turning her head back towards the hall.

The two police officers that were escorting Anna, Kara, Zoe and Rose back to their rooms were silent the entire time, not saying a word. Even for the whole elevator ride they were silent.

They turned a corner and Zoe saw her parent, along with everybody else's, standing in the lobby. Zoe saw Mona too, but she didn't make eye contact. It would be a while until she would be able to look at her normally.

The police officers let go of Anna, Rose and Kara but Zoe was still in her police officer's grasp.

She tried to yank away, but he kept his grip.

"Hey, let go of me!" Zoe called loudly. She was hoping that somebody would hear and interfere.

Thankfully, her mothers heard and were now rushing towards Zoe and he cop.

"What is the meaning of this?" Emily asked when she and Alison reached Zoe and the cop.

"Zoe, baby, are you okay?" Alison asked as she caressed Zoe's face.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, but this guy won't let me go." Zoe said as she tugged again. As she looked at Alison, Zoe couldn't help but remember all the things that Victoria had said about her. Was it all true?

Alison looked at him. "Let go." She said with a bitch-stare.

The officer shook his head. "I got an order from the chief that I need to question the girls individually and I want to start with this one."

Zoe groaned. He couldn't even call her by her name.

Emily looked from Zoe back to the police officer. "We want to be in the room too."

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that-"

" _We are going to be in the room with our daughter, sir."_ Alison said through gritted teeth.

The man just sighed and nodded to the snack room the hospital staff was only allowed to go to.

"C'mon then." He said. He yanked on Zoe's arm and practically dragged her off to the room.

When he opened the door and shoved Zoe in, she saw that there was a table with a few chairs and she sat down in one. She probably would have been a lot more nervous if she would have been alone, but her moms were there so she was slightly less nervous.

"Why exactly am I here?" Zoe asked as she looked at her arm. Sure enough, there was a little red hand mark where the police had gripped her.

"I need statements from you four girls about what happed in that warehouse. If all of your stories add up, then we'll know you're telling the truth." He said as he sat down.

"What?" Alison asked angrily.

"Are you accusing them of lying?" Emily added.

Zoe's mouth hung open at his accusation. The police had caught Victoria red handed, and not to mention that Zoe, Kara and Anna were tied to a tree when they rescued them.

"There are a few loose ends, ladies." The cop said as he started to write something down on paper.

"Like what?" Zoe asked when she finally found her voice.

"For one thing, we were unable to find this so called warehouse that Victoria kept you all in." He said as he looked up.

Zoe's heart began to race. "What?"

"We searched those woods up and down and there is no sign of there ever being a building in there. We looked at the town records and there was no record of their being a building and when we questioned the townspeople, they couldn't remember there ever being an auto shop in the woods."

Zoe's heart started to race. "That's impossible, we were there for months!"

The officer swallowed. "We get that and there could be another person out there who is helping Victoria and they could have done something to the building but that is highly unlikely."

"There were helpers!" Zoe said frantically. "Victoria had two of them and they took turns hurting us."

Alison and Emily both looked at Zoe with sad looks. This was the first time that Zoe was speaking about this with anyone else than her friends and she was hoping she could've told her parents on her own, but this accusation was ridiculous.

"Where are these helpers then?" The man asked. "There certainly wasn't anyone around when we searched the woods."

"They're dead." Zoe said quietly.

The officer's eye's widened. "Dead?"

She nodded. "One was the other girl that went missing, Chelsey Nestler. She did most of the work but…she was shot." Zoe didn't mention that it was Anna who shot her because this cop was hard enough on her, imagine how he would treat Anna.

"Who shot her?" He asked as he wrote down on his paper.

"I don't know." Zoe answered quickly. "Victoria probably."

He looked back up at Zoe. "And who was this second helper?"

Zoe looked at her parents and they both gave her wary looks. She took a deep breath and looked back at the cop.

"Daniel Coogan."

Zoe heard a weird noise come from Emily's throat and a gasp escaped Alison's lips.

"Daniel was there?" Emily asked.

Zoe looked at her mom and nodded her head. She could feel her eyes start to water.

"He's the one who whipped me." Zoe added.

A sad look washed over her mothers' face.

"That's impossible." The police officer said. "He's been in jail for almost a year now."

Zoe looked at him. "He was there, sir. If I remember correctly, Victoria was in charge of his case and she could have easily taken him out of the jail and convinced him to help her."

"That wouldn't happen. She wouldn't be able to do that without a valid reason."

"I don't know how she did it, but she did." Zoe ended her sentence there. She didn't want to upset the officer more.

He sighed. "And you said he was dead too?"

"I think he is." She peeped. "When Victoria was moving us, I saw him in the corner of the cell room and he smelled _awful_ and he wasn't moving, so I think Victoria killed him for what he did."

"What did he do?" The officer asked. He actually sounded interested.

She looked at her parents. "While he was whipping me, he kept saying that he didn't want to do it, but he had too. Afterwards, he carried me back to my cell and told me to go to the first door on the left and I didn't really get to ask him about it because I passed out, but when I woke up I was in some weird room. I walked out into the room of doors and I went to the first door on the left like he said and it was a room full of phones and I called my boyfriend, Cory. If Daniel never told me that, I wouldn't have been able to call him and A never would have had to move us, so A killed him for that."

The room was silent. Everyone probably didn't understand what she said, but that was the best that she was able to describe it.

A tear ran down her face and Alison rubbed circled into Zoe's back.

"We know this is hard, Zoe." She said. "You're doing great."

The truth was, Zoe wasn't crying because this thing was hard to look back on, she was crying because of Daniel.

Yes, he was an awful person and the things he did to Zoe she would never forget, but he _died_ helping the girls escape. And for that, Zoe was thankful, and she was upset that she would never be able to tell him that.

"What did Victoria do to these bodies?" The man asked. He seemed unconvinced.

"I don't know." Zoe said as she started to scratch the burn mark on her hand.

He nodded slightly and put his pen down. "Can you tell me why you, Anna, Kara and Rose snuck into Victoria's room?"

"You did what?" Alison asked as soon as the cop closed his mouth.

Zoe looked at her parents than at the cop with a guilty expression.

"I didn't really want to, but everyone insisted and it's not like I couldn't _not_ go." Zoe started.

"Why did you all want to see her in the first place?" Emily asked.

"Ma'am, I'll ask the questions." The cop said, shutting Emily up.

She glared at him and then down at the floor.

"You do realize that this could be a very dangerous woman, why did you all go to her room alone?"

"We all found out that Mona was Victoria's mother, and Rose is related to Mona so she really wanted to understand everything more than she already had before and we felt like now was the best time. We wanted to hear the reasoning straight from Victoria and not through some judge, so we snuck in to talk to her." Zoe explained.

"Wait a minute…Mona is Victoria's mother?" Alison asked in shock.

"If you ladies can't be quiet then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The officer said angrily.

"Leave them alone." Zoe demanded. "And I don't know if you remember, but their daughter was kidnapped and tortured for months and they missed out on a lot and everything I saw is new to them. It might now be a shock to you, but not for them, so leave them alone."

The officer stared at Zoe with a grimace, but he didn't say anything.

Thank god because Zoe's instincts basically took over there and if she opened her mouth she would probably ball her eyes out.

Emily grabbed Zoe's hand while Alison rubbed Zoe's back as responses. Good, they weren't mad.

The man shook his head. "Okay, how and when were you taken exactly?"

Zoe thought back to that day. It seemed like forever ago. "Kara was in jail, and we were all in A's lair trying to find evidence to prove that Zak wasn't dead, but then Victoria came out of know where and attacked us all. When I woke up again, I was in a cell wearing a pink children's dress with my hair up in braids."

The police officer looked confused as he wrote what Zoe said down. "Okay, and can you remember what happened that first day you were there?"

Zoe nodded. "I remember it perfectly. After I woke up I-"

She was interrupted by a loud banging at the door.

"What the-?" The police officer said as he began to stand up.

There was more banging and this time, there was some yelling.

"Sir, you can't go in there!" A female's voice said.

"I have to see her!" Came a male voice. It was a voice that Zoe knew.

She stood and ran for the door.

There was more banging.

"Zoe, sit down now!" The officer yelled as Zoe reached for the door knob.

"Sir, stop!" The female voice yelled.

"Let me go!" He said.

Zoe opened the door and her heart flipped when she saw him.

Cory stared at her with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

She stared at him shaky hands and a smile.

The room was silent as the outside world collided with the dark room.

"Zoe?" He said quietly, almost so quietly to the point where Zoe couldn't hear him.

She lunged forwards at him, with tears in her eyes and uncontrollable emotion, and he caught her and wrapped his arms around her bony structure.

She cried into him and he cried into her.

"Oh my god…oh my god…oh my god!" He repeated over and over again.

Zoe was unable to form any words, and she didn't want to interrupt this moment.

"How the hell did this happen?" The police officer said to the female voice, a nurse.

"He heard that Zoe DiLafields was in here and I couldn't stop him."

The cop groaned.

Zoe looked up at Cory and he looked down at her and his warm green eyes stared back.

"I can't believe you're actually here." He squeaked out.

Zoe chuckled and grabbed onto his face. "I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled and then Zoe brought his face down to hers and their lips connected. The warmth from the kiss warmed Zoe's entirely cold body and she felt her heartrate start to slow down. She could have stayed like this forever, but she only stopped when she remembered that they weren't alone.

She broke apart from him and looked at her parents on the other side of the room.

They were staring at the couple with wide eyes and small smiles.

Emily stuck a thumbs up while Alison laughed.

Zoe felt her cheeks get warm but she turned back to Cory and grabbed his hand.

The police officer stood in front of the two. "I'm sorry, sir, but you just interrupted a very important discussion." He said grumpily.

"And I'm sorry sir, but you just interrupted my reunion with my kidnapped girlfriend." Cory said back.

Zoe kept her mouth closed tight to stop her from laughing.

The police officers hands closed into fists as he took a deep breath. They then turned back to normal.

"Fine." He said. "Fine…fine…fine." He turned to Zoe. "I'm done with you for today, but you better come up with more stuff when I come back for you tomorrow."

Zoe nodded but didn't say anything.

He then groaned and walked out of the room.

When he was out, Zoe looked at her parents who were across the room. They then walked towards Zoe and Cory.

"Ignore that crab. He's probably never experienced love before." Alison said as she looked up at Emily.

Zoe smiled. "I'm okay guys, really. All I want to do is be alone with Cory."

They looked at the two and then at each other with wide eyes.

"Okay." Emily said as she grabbed Alison's hand and walked out the door.

"Don't do anything inappropriate!" Alison yelled as they closed the door.

Zoe felt her cheeks get red again.

Once they closed the door, Cory looked down at Zoe.

"Are you sure you're alright." He asked.

Zoe walked towards a chair and sat down. "Yeah, I'm fine." She then started to cough but she managed to get it under control.

He sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Her cold body fit into his warm body perfectly.

"If you need to talk to anyone, I'm here." He said.

Zoe closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat.

"I know." She said. "But for right now, I just want silence."

He didn't say anything; he just pulled Zoe in closer.

She kept her eyes closed as she listened to his steady heartbeat and counted the number of beats.

Within minutes, she was asleep.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, I felt like there wasn't that much romantic things going on so I added some Cory and Zoe in there for you :)**

 **Also, just a few more chapters til the end, but were not quite there yet.**

 **Also, I want to answer some of your questions, so if you have any, leave them in the reviews and I'll answer them in the anon next chapter.**

 **Also, Monday is the one year anniversary of me publishing the first chapter of this story!**

 **Wow, it does** _ **not**_ **feel like a year!**

 **Love you!**

 **-Jessica**


	56. BlackmAil

**AN: So I didn't get any questions but that's okay XD**

 **Silver-Infinite and ujemamia favorited! Thanks! Bella Parkerr followed and favorited! Thanks so much!**

 **This chapter might be a little boring so I apologize.**

 **Let's get on with it!**

* * *

Kara sat down next to her parents while she waited for Zoe to come out of her little interview.

Her heart beat a little bit when she saw Cory barge in. Kara had kind of hoped that Owen would be with him, but he still hadn't showed.

It actually made her _really_ sad. Rose, Kara and now Zoe all had their boyfriends visit them, but where the hell was Owen?

"What are you thinking?" Her mother asked.

Kara jumped. She was so zoned out that she forgot she was with her parents.

She looked at her mom. "Owen."

Hanna's eyes dulled down and she looked over at her husband.

Kara's eyebrows scrunched up as she looked at her parents back and forth.

"What?" She asked frantically.

They didn't answer.

"What!" She demanded.

"It's just…" Caleb started. "We haven't heard from him in a few days."

Kara's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he was trying to help us find you and he left and we haven't heard from him." Hanna explained.

Kara sat up straight as her heart beat fast. "You have to make sure he's okay!"

"Kara, honey, we really shouldn't leave you. The police could want to question you and we both want to be here when that happens." Hanna said sweetly.

"He could be in trouble, mom." She pleaded. "Please, _please_ go make sure he's okay."

Hanna looked at Caleb and they gave each other a series of looks.

Kara crossed her fingers as she watched her parents do this.

Caleb stood up. "I'll go." He said. "If the police want to question you, stall for as long as you can."

Kara nodded. "Okay." She was pretty good at that. She distracted that cop only with hand sanitizer.

He nodded and headed for the door.

Kara's legs bobbled up and down as she stared at the ground.

"I'm sure he's fine." Hanna said as she rubbed her daughter's back.

"If he was fine he would have come to see me."

Her mom was silent.

The snack room door opened and Zoe and Cory walked out hand in hand.

Kara bounced up from her chair and practically ran to them. She needed something to do that would distract her from Owen.

"What did the police ask you?" She asked when she reached the two.

Zoe started at Kara with wide eyes. "Hi to you too."

Kara shook her head violently. "I'm sorry, I just…I want to know."

Zoe looked around the room and Kara followed her eyes.

She was looking at Rose and Anna who were coincidentally with their boyfriends also.

"I think we should all talk about it." Zoe eventually said.

Kara bobbed up and down. "Okay."

She ran to Rose first and grabbed her hand.

"…and apparently we're related and I can't-Kara, hey!" Rose yelled when Kara grabbed her.

"Zoe needs to talk to us." Kara said quickly.

"Can it wait?" Zak asked.

Kara glared at him. "No."

He looked away and Rose looked at him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Kara then forced her to walk over to Anna who was with Dylan.

They weren't really talking, Anna's eyes were pinched closed and Dylan held her hand.

"Is it her?" He asked Anna when Kara was in earshot.

Kara bent down and tapped on Anna's forehead. "Knock knock!" Kara yelled.

Anna's eye's shot open. "Kara, what the…?"

"Sorry, Chelsey but Anna needs to go." Kara said as she grabbed Anna's arm and forced her up.

"Kara, you can't just pull people from that!" Dylan yelled as they walked away.

"Well I just did!" She yelled back, not even turning her head.

Kara then stormed past Zoe, who looked completely shocked and made eye contact.

"Let's go." Kara urged.

"I'll be back soon." Zoe said to Cory. They broke their hands apart and Kara led them to their hospital room.

She practically pushed them into the room and she closed the door behind her.

When she turned around to look at the three, they were all giving Kara a crazy look.

"What?" Kara asked as she sat down on her bed.

"You're insane." Anna said as she sat down next to Kara.

"Says the one who hears a dead girl's voice in her head." Kara said as she rolled her eyes.

Anna shook her head and looked at everyone around the room.

Kara looked up at Zoe. "Now spill. What did the cop ask you?"

Zoe sat down and exhaled a deep breath. "He at first accused us of lying."

Kara's jaw dropped.

"What?" Rose asked loudly.

"Yeah, he thinks that we might be making this all up." Zoe said in an annoyed tone.

Kara shook her head. "And why does he think this?"

"Apparently, there were no traces of their ever being a ware house in the middle of the woods, and the townspeople of nearby towns said there was never an auto shop." Zoe explained.

"That's impossible." Kara said angrily.

Zoe nodded. "I know. Then he went on to say that maybe there was a helper who helped conceal the building somehow."

Rose perked up. "Daniel!"

"Yeah but he's dead." Anna said as she looked at Rose.

She looked at everyone with shocked looks. "What?"

"A lot happened while you were gone, Rose." Zoe said in a quiet voice.

"Maybe he wasn't dead." Kara said as she looked at the ground. "He was just motionless in the corner."

"But he smelled dead." Anna added.

"Maybe he crapped himself." Zoe added.

Kara squinted her eyes. "Ew."

"But it's possible that he's alive and I brought that up to the police officer." Zoe said.

"Did you mention Chelsey?" Anna asked.

Zoe looked at Anna with a sympathetic look. "Yeah I did."

Anna shot up straight and Kara shot her eyes back and forth between the two.

"What did you say?" Anna asked with concern in her eyes.

Zoe picked at her fingers. "I said she was dead, but I said that I didn't know who killed her and that it was probably Victoria."

Kara glared at Zoe. "You lied?"

"I'm not going to out our friends, Kara!" Zoe practically yelled.

Kara took a step back and looked at the ground. She stayed silent.

Thankfully, Rose spoke. "What else did he ask you?"

"He really didn't get to ask much more. He wanted to know why we wanted to see Victoria in the first place and I said that Victoria was related to Rose and that made us want answers even more. He seemed upset, probably at the fact that we were able to get into the room in the first place."

"Yeah, thanks to me." Kara mumbled under her breath. She still hadn't gotten any thanks for that. It took major courage.

Zoe seemed to hear her. "Thanks for that by the way."

Kara looked back up at all of them. "You're welcome."

"How were you able to pull that off by the way?" Anna asked. "That was amazing."

Kara looked down at her still stained pants. "You learn how to act pretty well in prison."

Silence.

Then, all of a sudden, Rose gasped.

Kara shot her eyes over to her. "What?"

"Victoria is the one who made the arrest, and she was the officer who dragged you around everywhere right?" Rose asked.

Kara nodded, confused. "Yeah, why?"

"You know the most about her." Anna added. "You know her personality and that could really help."

Kara rolled her eyes. "How does that help?"

"For one thing, you know how she acts when she's actually sane. You'll be able to see through her insane act she's pulling." Zoe added.

Kara shook her head and leaned against the wall. Her head was pounding. "No."

They all looked at her with confused looks.

"What do you mean 'no?'" Rose asked.

"The only conversation that ever happened between us was her threatening to beat me with her club and I kept my mouth shut and pretended like it didn't bother me. I've only ever seen her dark side." Kara said.

"Did you ever see her doing anything sketchy?" Anna asked.

"Right before I was drugged, she dragged me into solitary and next thing you know, I was out." Kara said. "But there was a reason on taking me down there."

"Well what was the reason?" Zoe asked.

Kara looked down at the floor as she remembered. "My cellmate, Debbie, got in a fight over me with this inmate named Diana, and when Diana punched me I fought back." She looked at the girls. "I almost killed her."

They all stared at Kara. Rose even looked her up and down.

"Victoria probably sent Diana to cause trouble so she could get you in solitary." Rose eventually said. "She needed you alone."

Kara rolled her eyes and stomped her foot. "Can you guys stop!"

They all shut their mouth and looked at her.

"When will you just get it in your brains that there is no evidence to prove that Victoria did this? The ware house is gone and the lair probably is too so stop giving yourself false hope." Kara said.

"And why is it that you're being so moody?" Anna asked.

Kara glared at her. "What am I not allowed to be moody? Did you already forget everything that's happened to us?"

"How could we forget, Kara!" Zoe practically yelled. "Don't you want justice over that?"

"Of course I do, but unless Daniel comes out of hiding, if he's even alive, and admits everything, then were screwed." Kara said as she made eye contact with everyone.

"Well find evidence Kara." Rose said. "Zak was there too helping, he'll find something."

Kara scoffed. "Oh yay! Here comes Zak, past A, to the rescue!" She said sarcastically.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Zoe grunted.

Kara looked at her. "I don't know, maybe it's the fact that I've been locked up with only my parents who think that if I take one deep breath Victoria will find me and poison me and the only other company are my friends coming up with insane solutions." She stepped away from the wall and threw her hands up. "And let's not forget the fact that everywhere I turn I see are you all cuddled up with your boyfriends while mine hasn't even showed up and there is no sign of him anywhere!"

"Owen's gone?" Zoe asked after a long pause.

Kara nodded gently as a tear rolled down her cheek.

They all three walked towards her.

"My parents said the last time they heard from him was before we were saved, and he hasn't come to see me. If he's okay, he would _come_!"

Anna rubbed Kara's back. "I'm sure he's fine."

Kara shook her head. "I hope. My dad is going to his house to see if he's there."

"There is probably a good explanation." Zoe added.

Kara backed up from them and walked towards the door. "Thanks guys, but I want to get some air."

They respectively backed off and allowed Kara to walk out the door. She saw her mother sitting in the waiting room with an empty seat next to her. She walked up to her.

"He's not back yet?" Kara asked.

Hanna shook her head. "No."

Kara plopped down and put her head in her hands.

"I'm really worried, mom." Her muffled voice said.

Hanna rubbed her daughter's back. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Everyone is saying that." Kara said as she sat back up. "But I can't think of any explanation."

Hanna stared at her daughter with a sad look. Her mouth stayed shut.

The elevator door at the end of the hall opened at the same time that the door to Kara and the other's room opened. Rose, Zoe and Anna walked out.

Kara looked from them to the elevator.

Caleb walked out. Owen wasn't at his side.

Kara stood up and looked at her friends. They had concerned looks on their faces as they gave Kara uneasy looks.

Kara turned and walked to her father.

"Where is he?" She asked when she was next to her dad.

He took a deep breath and looked over Kara's shoulder. She looked to see what he was looking at and Kara saw that her mother and friends were there too, waiting to hear the news.

He released his breath and made eye contact with his daughter. She didn't like the look in his eyes. Her heart beat fast as he spoke.

"He wasn't at his house, Kara." He said after a long pause.

Kara felt her knees start to wobble. "What?" She mumbled out.

"Lucas or his mom isn't there either." He said slowly. "Honey, I don't know where they are."

Tears streamed down her face as she took in the news.

"I knocked on the door and it opened. I looked at the lock and it was obviously busted." He continued.

Kara felt herself drain of anything good thing left in her.

"I looked in their house and Owen's room was a mess." Caleb said as his Adam's apple bobbed up at down. He was now looking at the floor.

"I found this." He said as he handed a piece of paper to Kara.

She took a deep breath and looked down at it. A tear fell off her face and it stained the paper.

She opened it up with shaky hands and when she read it, her heart dropped.

Hanna, Rose, Anna and Zoe must have read it too because they all gasped.

 _I'll try not to hurt Owen, but if you don't listen, I will. I want to talk, but in private. Meet me at the lair at midnight and he'll be fine. Bring one police officer only or Owen starts to lose his fingers._

 _-A_

Kara read it over and over again as she felt her legs buckle and she fell to the ground.

She cried into her arms and she tried to process what she read, but it was all too confusing.

Victoria was being held captive right now, how was she writing this?

Kara couldn't focus on this long enough.

The only thing she was focused on was her heart breaking into a million pieces.

* * *

Anna watched Kara fall to the floor. She wanted to go down and confront her, but Anna was petrified in place.

She continued to look down at Kara as she felt her whole body start to shake.

She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

The first thing that popped into her head was the thought that A was back.

But…Victoria was under constant supervision, so how was this possible?

" _Maybe you didn't actually kill me."_ Chelsey's voice sounded.

Anna shook her head. "Not now." She whispered. She tried her best to make sure that nobody would hear her, now was not the time.

" _Aren't you trying to come up with ways for this to be possible?"_ Her voice said.

Anna took a deep breath and walked off.

"Look, now is not the time for you to be here." Anna said when she was away from the crowd.

" _I know you killed me and all, but did you forget that I don't like you? What makes you think that I'll listen to you?"_

Anna took a deep breath and stomped her foot slightly. "Okay, what do you want?"

Chelsey sighed. _"Well, it's obvious that this isn't Victoria, it's impossible for her to be doing it, and she hasn't been able to talk to anyone on the outside since the night she was caught, so whoever is doing this is doing it on their own account."_

Anna opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "So what are you suggesting?"

" _Are you that dumb?"_ Chelsey yelled in Anna's head. _"Who other than Victoria and I worked with A at the warehouse?"_

Anna continued to look at the ceiling. She thought of his name and shook her head. "He's dead, Chelsey."

" _Obviously not. You saw him lifeless, but he wasn't dead."_

"How do you know?"

" _Victoria is pretty sloppy, she always left clues that I had to try to cover up, and I know that she isn't very strategic when it comes to bodies. She didn't check to see if Zak was actually dead when your brother beat him up, and she didn't check it out when the news said that he was shot, and when she killed Noah, she left his body in the same room that she killed him. And when you killed me, she buried me not even ten feet away from the warehouse. She didn't bury Daniel anywhere near me, and she didn't have time to move him anywhere. He was there when Victoria moved you from the building and next thing you know, she was in police custody. And now all of a sudden the building is gone and any trace of Daniel is gone, and an A note comes out of the blue. Who else could it be, Anna?"_

Anna's mouth hung open. "You're right."

"Hey! Anna wake up!"

Anna blinked and looked at who spoke. It was Dylan.

She looked at him and then over his shoulder. Kara was now in Rose's arms crying while the parents all spoke. They haven't even noticed that Anna was gone.

"Are you okay?" Dylan asked. "Was it Chelsey."

Anna nodded in a daze. "Yeah…yeah it was."

"You need to find a way to block her out." He said as he reached down and grabbed Anna's hand.

"I know…but she's kind of helpful."

Dylan looked confused.

Anna continued to look over his shoulder. She nodded at the scene behind him.

"A's back." She said as she stared at Kara.

Dylan's eyes grew wide. "What…no that's impossible?"

"It's not Victoria." Anna said as she began to slowly walk back over to Kara and the others.

Dylan followed close behind her. "Then who is it?"

"Daniel." Anna said as she got closer to the group. "That's what Chelsey telling me."

Dylan reached out and grabbed Anna's shoulder and forced her to turn around.

"Are you really going to trust her? She was evil and…she's dead."

Anna rolled her eyes. "I know that, but it makes since."

"Yeah, but this came from your head." He said slowly.

"Exactly, Dylan. I hear Chelsey's voice in _my_ head, so technically it's just me speaking but with a different voice." Anna said as she continued walking.

Dylan was silent as he followed her.

She walked over to the parents who were talking feverously.

"It's Daniel." She said. She completely interrupted but she didn't care.

Spencer looked at her daughter. "What?"

"Daniel Coogan. He was at the warehouse too, and we weren't sure if he was dead or not, but he obvious he isn't. Victoria hasn't had any time to contact another person so he's the only explanation."

Everyone started at her with blank expressions.

Toby turned his eyes away from his daughter and he looked back up at the group.

"I'll go to the lair. I'm a cop and I feel like I have the most knowledge of what's going on." He said.

"Dad, listen to me!" She said as she shook his shoulders. "Daniel is a sneaky bitch and you need to be careful."

"Watch your language, Anna." Spencer hissed.

Anna kept her eyes on her dad. "You need to be really careful."

" _They think you're insane."_ Chelsey interrupted.

"No they don't." Anna whispered.

The parents gave her uneasy looks but remained silent.

"I'll bring a gun, but I don't think that I'm in that much danger, Anna." He said in a slightly annoyed tone.

" _They won't listen to you, give it up."_

"Be quiet!" Anna yelled on the top of her lungs.

Everyone around her jumped.

Anna herself was shocked. She stared at everyone with a scared expression on her face.

Spencer and Toby looked at each other and then they walked towards Anna. They grabbed her shoulders and led her away.

They stopped and walked into Anna and the others room and they closed the door.

Anna sat down on her bed and when her parents turned around, they had angered expressions on their faces.

"What the hell was that?" Spencer asked.

A tear fell down Anna's cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "I just want you guys to be safe."

"Us be safe?" Toby said. "What about you? You've been kidnapped for months."

Anna looked down at the ground, afraid to look at her parents.

It was silent for a few moments, but Spencer started to slowly walk towards Anna.

"We've noticed that you've been kind of distant lately." She said. "Can you tell us what's wrong?"

Anna shook her head. "Nothing's wrong."

"You talk to yourself, Anna." Toby said. "Like, all the time."

Anna looked up at her father. "You noticed?"

He, along with her mother, nodded.

"And just now, you yelled 'be quiet' when nobody was talking." Her mother added.

Another tear fell down Anna's face. "There's something I haven't told you."

Spencer and Toby's faces dropped, and they sat down next to Anna.

"What is it?" Spencer asked urgently.

Anna shook her head as more tears fell. She wanted to be prepared when she told her parents about Chelsey, but she had no time. If she would have just kept her big mouth shut, she wouldn't have to deal with this right now.

"Please tell us." Toby urged.

Anna opened her mouth but only a sob came out.

"Did Victoria do something to you?" Spencer asked.

Anna shook her head. "No, I did it on my own."

Spencer and Toby both grabbed Anna's hands.

"What did you do?" Her mom asked, calmness in her voice.

Anna took in a shaky breath and looked at her mother with wet eyes.

"I…killed somebody." She spilled.

Her mother's eyes grew wide and when Anna turned to look at her father, she saw that he had the same expression on his face.

"He was right." Toby muttered under his breath.

Anna scrunched up her face. "What…who?"

Spencer squeezed Anna's hand. "Zak. When he came to us, he mentioned that you killed someone, but we didn't believe him but….why? Why did you…" Spencer swallowed. "Why and who did you kill?"

Anna stood up with shaky legs. She needed to walk around.

"Chelsey." She said. Her name sounded bitter in her mouth. "She gave me a gun and forced me to shoot someone, but I pretended to shoot myself in the shoulder, and Chelsey thought I actually did and I acted dead. Chelsey was going to go and kill everyone so I used my advantage and held Chelsey at gunpoint. I could have let her go and ran, but I couldn't. Something took over me and I pulled the trigger." Her voice cracked. "I didn't have to, but I did…and now I hear her voice in my head constantly and I get it out."

Her parents stared at her with expressions that Anna couldn't quite make out.

Finally, Spencer spoke.

"Okay…" She said calmly. "Who else knows?"

Anna looked down at her hands. "Zoe, Kara, Rose, Victoria and I guess Zak. And I told Dylan too."

Her parents sighed, but they didn't look too disappointed.

"Don't tell _anyone_ else." Toby directed. "We'll figure this out."

Anna nodded. "Okay."

"What has she told you?" Spencer asked.

"Mostly insults." Anna said as she looked back up at her parents. "But she told me that Daniel was alive, and it would take too long to explain, but he could be alive, and he's the only reasonable candidate on who this new A is."

Toby nodded his head. "And you trust her?"

Anna nodded her head reluctantly.

"So what should I watch out for?" He asked.

Anna remembered Daniel and all the things he's done. "He's pretty unstable and probably has no will to live, so you have to be really careful. Follow everything he say's and you should get Owen easily."

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Anna's eyes grew wide. "You _have_ to get Owen. Kara won't be able to live without him."

"Your father's safety comes first, Anna." Spencer said.

Anna nodded. "I know, but… please try."

Toby stood up. "I will."

Anna stood up too. "Are you going now?"

He nodded. "The sooner the better."

Anna lunged forwards and hugged him and he gripped her back. "I'll come back, I promise."

Anna nodded into his chest. "I know."

She let go and Spencer took Anna's place in his arms.

"I love you." Her muffled voice said into his chest.

"I love you too." Toby said. He then kissed the top of Spencer's head.

They broke apart and with one last look, he was out the door.

Anna watched it close slowly and the sounds of Kara's crying still sounded.

Her father _had_ to save Owen, for Kara's sake.

And he had to shut this new A down.

For everyone's sake.

* * *

 **AN: Alright :))))))**

 **So there's a new A, or is there?**

 **I put a new video up on my Youtube channel. I found a rough draft to the story and I read and discussed it with you. Unfortunately, doesn't let me post links but if you type "I found a rough draft for PLB" It'll be the first thing you see.**

 **Just look for my face :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **See you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	57. Rescue

**AN: Y'all I am so excited! I'm going to a Pentatonix concert on Sunday and I can't waittttttttt!**

 **Okay…breathe…**

 **DelenaFreak0422 followed and favorited. THANKS SO MUCH!**

 **Alright, now on to the chapter!**

* * *

Rose held Kara in her arms as she wept. Honestly, Rose felt like sobbing too.

They had just gotten an A note….like a literally _A_ note. Plus, this A had Owen now, and it got a little person when A brought the boyfriends into the mix.

Rose lifted her head up and saw Anna walk out of their hospital room with her mother close behind.

Rose looked down at Kara. "I'll be right back." She said.

Kara nodded and Rose handed her off to Zoe. Rose got up and walked over to Anna.

"What's going on?" Rose asked when she reached Anna.

Rose could tell that Anna had been crying recently.

"My dad is going to go to the lair to get Owen." Anna said as she wiped her eyes.

"Alone?"

Anna nodded.

"He can't do that, this new A could kill him!" Rose whisper yelled.

Anna shook her head. "It's just Daniel."

Rose took a step back. "How do you know?"

Anna pointed to her head. "Chelsey told me."

Rose breathed in a strong breath. "You do know that not everything she says to you is true, right?"

"I know that but it makes since and I got my dad to believe me so it was obviously good enough." Anna said as she looked at the ground.

"What about Daniel?"

Rose turned around and looked at the speaker. It was Zoe.

"Did you leave Kara alone?" Rose asked as she looked over at Kara who was sitting on the floor.

"She wanted to be left alone." Zoe said as she looked over at Kara as well. "But I heard Daniel's name, so what about him?"

"Anna's convinced that the new A is him." Rose said as she pointed at Anna.

Zoe looked at her. "Why?"

"Chelsey told me." Anna replied.

Zoe opened her mouth to say something but Anna quickly interrupted her.

"I know I know… 'The voice could be lying, Anna' but it's not, okay. I just know." Anna said.

Zoe closed her mouth.

Rose turned to Anna. "I still think your dad should have some backup."

"The note said that he needed to be alone." Zoe said.

"Yeah, alone in the lair, but what about outside the lair?" Rose suggested.

"What the hell does that mean?" Anna asked.

"We can wait out there, and if something happens, we can come to the rescue." Rose answered.

The other two girls were silent.

"But Daniel's insane." Anna eventually said. "What's to say he doesn't hurt us?"

"He doesn't want to hurt us." Zoe said. "He helped me get to the phone room so I can call Corey. He wanted us out."

"Then why did he take Owen?"

Rose jumped once again when a voice came from behind her. She turned around and saw a red eyed Kara standing behind her.

Rose looked at Anna and Zoe, but they both had their mouths shut.

"If what Zoe is saying is true, he probably wants to get the guilt off his chest, but all those police officers are too intimidating." Rose said.

Kara nodded as another tear fell down her face. She quickly wiped it away.

"So when are we leaving?" Kara asked.

"We're not." Anna said strictly.

"Anna, Daniel has my boyfriend who I haven't seen in months and I am going to do everything I can to see him again, so I am going to the damn lair." Kara said through gritted teeth.

Rose looked from Anna to Kara.

"I'll come with you." Rose eventually said.

"Thanks." Kara said. She turned to Zoe. "And you?"

She took a second to think about it. "I don't like this, but I'll come."

Rose smiled and then looked back up at Anna. "Come on, Anna." She said. "One last A hunt?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "Fine." She said angrily. "But if anything happens to my dad, I will seriously hurt you all."

Rose took a step pack. "Alright, deal."

Kara looked around. "How do we sneak out?"

Rose looked around the room and looked at all the parents. They were chattering away in the hallway.

"They seem too busy to even notice us leaving." Rose said.

"Yeah, but they will eventually check on us." Anna said as she looked at the group of adults.

"I know what to do." Zoe said as she walked over to their hospital room.

Rose and the others followed her.

She walked around the room and grabbed the "Do not disturb" sign. Zoe then threw it on the door handle.

"That isn't going to hold them off." Rose said as she looked at it.

"I'm not done." Zoe said as she grabbed the T.V remote. She flipped to the news channel and Rose's jaw dropped when she saw video's off all four of them pop up.

"What are those?" Rose asked as she pointed at the screen.

"When the police searched the lair earlier they found a copy of the tapes from way back when Victoria had them in our houses. They play them on a loop now." Zoe said in an annoyed tone.

"How will this help?" Kara asked.

"They'll hear our voices and leave us alone…hopefully." Zoe said as she turned up the volume on the T.V.

Rose was silent as she watched Zoe walk across the room and out the door.

"Are you guys ready?" Zoe asked with her hand on the doorknob.

Rose, along with everyone else, nodded.

"Then lets go."

They all walked out of the door and Zoe locked it before she closed it.

Rose prayed that this would work.

They easily slipped past their parents and made it down the elevator but their conflict came when they realized that there was a sea of reporters outside the hospital doors.

"What are we going to do about them?" Kara asked as she nodded to the reporters outside.

Everyone was silent as they thought.

"The garden!" Anna finally said.

Everyone looked at her with confused looks.

"What about it?" Rose finally asked.

"There's no way the press can come in through there, and we can sneak through to get around them." Anna answered in a tone that made it sound like it was obvious.

Rose nodded. "Okay, lead the way."

The four then snuck around the lobby and then out the garden doors again with no problem. Once they were outside, Anna led them to a large hedge.

"I'm pretty sure that the parking lot is on the other side." Anna said as they all looked up the hedge.

"How are we going to get over?" Zoe asked.

Rose looked around and saw a stone bench close by.

"We can use this." Rose said as she walked over and grabbed it. She tried to lift it up but it was nearly impossible because the thing was so heavy.

Kara came over and helped her pick it up and the two dragged it over to the hedge.

"Who's going first?" Rose asked as she looked at all the girls.

"I'll go." Kara said as she eagerly climbed on the bench.

"Be careful." Rose yelled as Kara reached for the top of the hedge.

Kara grabbed the top and pushed herself up and Rose watched as she sunk down a little.

Rose was scared that Kara would fall all the way through, but thankfully, there were enough branches to hold her weight.

Anna was next. She made it up with no problem. When Zoe tried to climb up, her body wouldn't allow it.

"I need some help." Zoe called as slumped back down onto the bench.

Rose wrapped her arms around Zoe's bony hips and lifted her up. Zoe grabbed the hedge and Rose used all of her might to basically throw Zoe over. She landed on the other side with a thump, but she didn't cry or anything, so she must have been fine.

Rose took a deep breath and looked around the garden one last time. For a hospital, it was a really nice garden and it actually made you forget that there were people dying twenty feet away from you.

"Come on, Rose!" Kara called from the other side.

Rose turned her head and jumped up and grabbed the hedge and with shaky arms, she pulled herself over.

When her feet hit the ground, Rose looked and saw that they weren't anywhere near the parking lot, but they were facing a small field.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

Anna looked around. "I don't know, but I think the lair is that way." She pointed to the other side of the field.

Nobody questioned it as they made the trip across the field.

Everyone was silent and unsure of what to come. This trip could only go one of two ways. And that was good or bad.

Once they reached the end of the field, they were near the park.

Rose felt her jaw drop. It had been so long since all of them had actually seen Rosewood.

They stepped into the park and Rose breathed in the cool autumn air. She missed the smell of Rosewood.

There was the sound of loud footsteps and Rose looked over and saw Toby open the door to the costume shop and enter with caution.

"Look." Rose said as she nodded over to him.

"Well, what's the plan?" Anna asked as she looked at her dad enter and close the door.

"We can't go in there." Zoe said. "Daniel said we can't."

"What's he going to do?" Kara said angrily.

"I don't know, maybe shoot your boyfriend." Anna said with sarcasm.

Rose stepped in-between the two of them. "Stop." She said strictly. "Arguing won't help."

They were both silent.

"I think we should wait it out." Zoe said. "If we hear anything we can sneak in."

"We should just sneak in now." Kara said as she took a few steps towards the shop.

"No!" Rose said as she grabbed Kara's shoulder.

Kara turned around angrily. "Why?"

"Daniel said specifically to only send one person, and not to mention that both your boyfriend and Anna's dad can be put in serious danger if we get caught." Rose said.

"We've snuck in and out of things so many times; this will be a piece of cake." Kara said as she tried to shake off Rose's hand.

Rose tightened her grip. "No."

"I'm willing to take the chance."

"Yeah, well I'm not." Anna said from behind Rose.

"I'm not either." Zoe added.

Kara looked at the three of them with disappointed looks but she nodded her head. "Fine."

"Thank you." Rose said as she let go of Kara.

Rose walked over to the swing set close by and sat down on a swing. She grabbed onto the rusted chain and kicked off a little bit. Kara, Anna and Zoe soon joined.

It was silent between the four. Rose kept looking up at the costume shop hoping to see Toby and Owen walk out okay and Daniel in handcuffs, but it was eerily silent.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Zoe asked.

"Who knows?" Rose said as she looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set.

"Do you think are parents are looking for us?" Anna asked.

Rose looked at all of them. "It's been a half hour so probably."

"They must be freaking out." Kara said as she looked at the ground.

"They're smart enough to guess where we are." Anna said. "Hopefully they don't interfere."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Kara got up from her swing and paced around. "God, I'm sick of waiting!" She grunted impatiently.

"This is a really serious situation, Kara." Zoe said.

"Yeah I know that!" She said as she stopped pacing.

Rose wanted to jump in and tell Kara once again that they couldn't do anything because it puts tons of people at risk, but something else caught her attention.

There was a loud _thump_ that sounded through the area, but nobody else seemed to notice.

Rose thought that it was maybe just her mind, but then she heard it again.

"How many times do we have to say this, Kara!" Anna yelled. "We can't go in there!"

"I don't care anymore, I need to-"

"Shh!" Rose yelled as she sat up and interrupted everybody.

Everyone was silent.

 _Thump_

"Did you guys hear that?" Rose asked.

They nodded.

"What was that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds pretty loud." Rose said as she looked back at the building.

"Do you think we should check it out?" Anna asked.

Rose shook her head. "No, I think that it isn't-"

But Rose never got to finish her sentence.

She was interrupted by a gunshot ringing through the air.

* * *

Zoe's immediate reaction to the sound was to cover her ears.

Once the ringing finally stopped, she lifted her head up and looked at the others.

"What was that?" She asked.

The three other girls all had scared looks on their faces.

"I think that was a gunshot." Rose finally said.

Zoe felt her heart drop.

"Who shot it?" Kara asked, her voice was frantic.

"I don't know." Zoe and Rose said at the same time.

Kara shook her head violently. "I'm going in there." She them stomped towards the building.

"No, Kara you can't." Rose said as she lunged towards her. "Something could happen."

"Something already did happen, Rose!" Anna yelled as she walked over to Kara. "Someone just got _shot_ and I think we have a right to know who."

Rose was silent. Zoe was too. She herself was pretty curious and worried about what happened.

"We don't have anything to defend ourselves with." Zoe eventually said.

Kara looked around with an angry look on her face. "I don't care." She then turned towards the building and ran to it. Anna was close behind.

"Wait!" Rose yelled, but they didn't stop.

Rose turned to Zoe and they looked at each other with worried glances.

"Come on." Zoe said as she began to follow Anna and Kara. "We can't lose them."

Kara and Anna ran into the building and Zoe caught the door before it could close fully.

When all four of them were in the building, they paused and looked at the empty room ahead of them.

"Why is it so quiet?" Zoe said as she looked around. The only noise in the entire building was the sound of the girls' breathing.

"Come on." Kara said, ignoring the question. "The lairs over here."

The four then slowly walked to the stairway that led to the lair.

The looked down the stairs and Zoe felt her heart race. She was scared to see what was down there.

"Who's first?" Rose asked.

You could feel the tension in the air.

"I'll go." Zoe said, but she immediately regretted it. She didn't want too, she was too scared, but Zoe was never the hero. Now was her time to prove that she could be the brave one.

Anna grabbed Zoe's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Thanks." She said, and Zoe could tell that she meant it.

Zoe nodded and walked down the first step. It creaked under her foot and she cringed. What if Daniel had shot both Mr. Cavanaugh and Owen and it was just him down there? What if he was just waiting for all the girls to come down so he could shoot and kill them all?

She took a deep breath and took another step, this time with more caution and it only squeaked a little less than before.

"Screw it." Zoe whispered as she ran down the stairs as fast as she could.

She made it down the last stair and released the breath she was holding and looked up at her friends.

They gave her questioning looks as if they were asking if the coast was clear.

Zoe looked around and saw nothing. It was too dark to really see anything. Plus, she wasn't dead so she held a thumb up.

She turned back around and turned the corner. She ran into something and it didn't take her that long to realize it was a body.

She opened her mouth to scream but the person wrapped their hand around her mouth.

She kicked and kicked but the person wouldn't let go.

"Shh!" They yelled into her ear, but Zoe didn't listen. Their hand slipped from Zoe's mouth for a second and she took that opportunity.

"Don't come down!" She yelled, but the person slammed their hand over her mouth again.

"Zoe?" Kara called, but she wasn't able to answer.

Zoe thrashed around and she hoped that the sound of her mumbling would attract her friends over to her, and it worked.

She heard footsteps slowly coming down the stairs.

"Zoe, what's going on?" Rose called.

Zoe kicked the person hard in the gut and they groaned. "Zoe, stop!"

She stopped kicking around when she recognized the voice.

"It's me, Mr. Cavanaugh." Came Toby's voice. "I'm going to let go and you are going to tell me everyone who's here with you."

He removed his hand from Zoe's mouth and with a shaky breath she answered, "Anna, Kara and Rose."

He sighed and started to loosen his grip on Zoe, but Anna and the others whipped around the corner.

"Let go of her!" Anna yelled as she unknowing jumped on her father.

Kara ran and helped Anna tackle Mr. Cavanaugh while Rose ran over to Zoe.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked as she grabbed onto Zoe.

"I'm fine." Zoe said as she looked over at Kara and Anna. "Guys, stop its Mr. Cavanaugh!"

Anna and Kara stopped kicking and looked up at Zoe.

"What?" Kara asked.

Anna looked down at the shadow figure and realization and guilt washed over her face. "Oh my god, sorry dad."

He groaned and sat up. "Its fine, just let me get up."

He quickly stood up and looked at the four girls. "Why are you guys here?"

"I had to come see if Owen was okay, and they all wanted to come with me." Kara said. He looked around. "Where is he?"

Toby sighed as he looked at Kara and Zoe felt her heart rate pick up. Was he okay?

Before anyone could say anything, another figure stepped from around the corner.

He walked past Zoe and she immediately recognized him. Kara did too.

A huge smile ran across her face as she lunged at Owen and jumped into his arms.

"Oh my god!" Kara yelled as she cried into his arms. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, barely able to speak. "I'm fine, are you okay?"

"Yeah…yeah I'm okay." Kara gasped.

The two then remained quiet as they hugged, kissed and cried.

Zoe watched them for a second, but Anna spoke.

"Was it Daniel, dad?" Anna asked.

Toby nodded. "Somehow, that voice in your head was telling the truth."

"Where is he?" Zoe asked immediately after he closed his mouth

He looked down at Zoe and an unhappy look washed over his face.

"He's in the other room." He finally said.

Zoe took a step around Toby to go see him. She didn't know what she was going to say, but she did know that she wanted to thank him for getting her into the room of phones.

Before she could turn the corner into the lair, Toby but a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop." He said calmly. "You don't want to go in there."

Zoe stared at him with a confused look. "Why?"

"You just don't."

Zoe looked and made eye contact with Anna and she could tell that they both were wondering the same thing.

"What happened?" Anna asked.

Toby scratched the back of his neck as he looked down at the ground. "He um…he had a gun and…" he trailed off.

Zoe felt her body start to shake. "We heard a gunshot and that's why we came in."

"Yeah, that was him." Toby said in a low tone.

Zoe turned around and looked at the corner again. Why wasn't he making any noise?

Zoe took a step forwards and turned the corner. What she saw was horrendous.

Toby grabbed her shoulders. "Zoe, no!" But it was too late.

She screamed as she looked at all the blood and there were some chunks on the wall that made Zoe gag, and in the middle of the pile of blood was Daniel with a hole in his forehead.

She felt her legs start to shake and she would have fallen if Toby didn't have a grip on her.

She looked away as fast as possible and ran to her friends. They looked confused and shocked but they allowed Zoe to run into her arms.

They cradled her and Kara even walked away from Owen to hug her.

"What did you see?" Rose asked as she rubbed Zoe's back.

But Zoe couldn't stop crying. Everywhere she looked she saw his body and she couldn't breathe in without smelling his rotting corpse.

"I tried to stop him, but he was pretty unstable and he shot himself before I could do anything." Toby explained.

"Daniel killed himself?" Kara said, her voice raspy.

Zoe nodded into Kara's chest and she felt everyone's grip tighten.

"Are you okay, Zoe?" Anna asked in a calm voice.

She broke apart from the group hug and she stared at everyone with blurry vision.

"I'm fine." She said as she rubbed her eyes. "I just… I want to get out of here."

They all nodded and Rose held onto Zoe as they walked up the stairs.

"I'll be up in a minute." Toby said. "I just need to call this in."

The girls and Owen then walked up the stairs and out the door and the fresh air was a gift to Zoe's nose, but she still couldn't get the image out of her brain.

That is something Zoe will never _ever_ forget.

Once they were outside, they walked across the park and Zoe slumped down on a swing.

Anna bent down so she was eye-length with Zoe. She put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Anna asked.

Zoe nodded. "He was just….lying there…dead…" Her voice cracked and more tears fell down her face. "It was disgusting."

They heard the door to the costume shop open and Toby walked out and he put caution tape across the door.

He sighed and walked over to the group.

"I called all of your parents." He said once he made it over to them. "They're coming to get you all."

Zoe, along with everyone else, nodded.

"Are they mad?" Kara asked.

"Not as much mad but worried." Toby answered.

Zoe wrapped her arms around herself as a cool breeze blew by and she looked up at the sky. She saw a cluster of stars that just like Daniels body.

Another tear fell down her face but she quickly wiped it away. She didn't want anyone to question her anymore.

Zoe kept her eyes closed until she heard the revving of cars and when she opened her eyes, she saw four sets of headlights.

They pulled up to the park and all the parents ran out and ran to their children.

Zoe looked at her moms but she stayed put. She was scared that if she got up, she would just fall over.

They ran up to her and saw the wetness on her face.

"Are you okay?" They both asked as they hugged her.

Zoe nodded. "Yeah…yeah I am, but let's please not talk." Zoe said as she hugged her moms.

They looked confused, but they kept their mouths shut and Zoe was grateful.

She kept her arms wrapped around them as Toby explained to everyone what happened and she tried to block out his voice.

She couldn't at first, but she just focused on her mothers' heartbeats and eventually, she was able to draw out all noise completely.

But the sound of the gunshot still lingered.

* * *

 **AN: Okay so that happened.**

 **And if you are wondering, Zoe is sad about Daniel's death, bus she is crying and unstable because is just pretty scarred on what happened and what she saw, despite what he did to her.**

 **Also, I think there are only going to be two chapters after this one, just a heads up.**

 **See you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	58. Comfort

**AN: Hello!**

 **This chapter is going to be pretty short because it is the end and there really isn't much to fill it with so yeah, I'm sorry about that.**

 **Prettylittle. otps and hughesfamily followed and favorited. Thanks so much! Also, jufranck a favorited. Thanks!**

 **I'm not going to babble so let go!**

* * *

Anna sat in the back of her mom's car as all four girls got police escorts home.

The hospital said that they would prefer if the girls came back, but they really didn't need any treatment so if they wanted to go home, they could. So of course they chose to go home.

A single raindrop dropped on the window and it made Anna jump a little, but soon enough, a downpour started.

She looked out the window and looked at soggy Rosewood. It looked different.

Was Rosewood high school always across from Lucky Leon's cupcakes? Anna could have sworn that it was further down the street.

She blinked and found that they were pulling down Anna's street. She unbuckled her seatbelt when she saw her house.

Shouldn't she be more excited? It's her first time seeing her house in months and she still felt so empty.

Maybe it was the fact that Daniel _killed_ himself, or maybe it was the fact that Victoria was still safe and sound in the hospital.

Or maybe it was both.

They pulled in the driveway and Spencer turned around with a smile on her face.

"Are you ready?" She said with excitement.

Anna faked a smile. "Yeah."

Spencer turned around and unlocked the car and Anna opened the door and stepped out.

She was getting soaking wet but she really didn't care. It was just nice to get out of that stuffy car.

" _Home sweet home_." Chelsey's voice said, but Anna ignored it and walked inside.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned around and saw that it was her dad, who was also her police escort.

"Are you excited?" He asked.

Anna nodded and looked back at the house. "Yeah."

"Then let's go." Spencer said as she gently pushed on Anna's back towards the house.

Anna quickly walked over to the front door and opened it without hesitation. She just really wanted to lie in her own bed.

She flung the door open and she walked through the front door. She turned the corner and saw her brother lying on the couch. He sat up quickly.

"You're home?" He said in shock when he sat up.

Anna walked over to him. "Yeah, I'm home." She then hugged him and he hugged back.

"Nobody told me you were coming home tonight." He said when they broke apart.

"It wasn't scheduled, it just kind of happened." Anna said as she looked over at her dad.

He noticed the awkward eye contact between her and their father. "What happened?"

Anna looked back at him. "Daniel kidnapped Owen and when dad went to go save him, Daniel…" Anna pointed a finger gun at her head and pulled the trigger, signaling what happened.

"Oh." Was all he said. "Well I'm glad you're home and okay."

"Okay, let's get you up to bed." Spencer said as she grabbed Anna's shoulders. She obviously didn't want Brendon to hear this, but little did she know, Brendon was already pretty messed up.

As Anna was being forced up to her room, she quickly brushed off her mother's hands.

Her mother must have known that something was off.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Anna turned around and looked at her. "Yeah." She nodded. "I just _really_ want to go to bed."

Her mom looked at her up and down. "Are you sure you're okay?"

" _Ugh, she's so annoying."_ Said Chelsey's annoying voice.

Anna rolled her eyes at Chelsey. "Yes, mom."

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Anna." Spencer said in a strict tone.

"I wasn't rolling them at you; I was rolling them at Chelsey." Anna said as she awkwardly scratched her arm.

Spencer sighed. "You're still hearing her voice?"

Anna nodded. "Unfortunately. But I think that I just need some sleep."

Spencer nodded slightly. "Okay. I love you."

Anna smiled. "I love you too." Then she turned around and walked up the stairs quickly.

When she opened her door, she automatically felt better. She saw her bed, still messy from the last time she had laid in it many months ago.

She walked into her room and looked around. Her desk still had papers and pens laid around from when Anna was trying to come up with their plan to free Kara, which failed miserably, and her hair brush was still on the ground from when she dropped in in frustration.

Everything was the same, which meant that her parents hadn't come in here since she disappeared.

She looked around again and her eyes focused on something that wasn't there before.

She slowly walked over to her nightstand and picked up her bracelet with a shaky hand.

This dumb bracelet that has been the cause of all of Anna's troubles. This bracelet that Dylan gave her, that she has lost so many times.

She lost it sometime in the warehouse, she couldn't remember when. But how did it end up in her room? And who put it there?

" _It's obvious."_ Chelsey said.

Anna scoffed. "Can you please just leave?"

" _Nope. But you should know who put that there."_

Anna clipped the bracelet around her wrist. "I honestly don't care who put it there, Chelsey. It only matters that I have it."

" _Oh come on, at least guess. You'll be surprised."_

Anna flopped down on her still messy bed and looked up at the celling. The little crack from when she hit her head on the ceiling when she was jumping up and down was still there. She was ten when that happened. She had almost forgotten about that.

"I'm not guessing."

" _Please!"_ She said in a mocking tone.

"No, Chelsey. I don't have to listen to you anymore. You're really annoying and I can't deal with you anymore."

" _Well unfortunately, you don't get to control when I come talk to you. You killed me and now you have to live with the consequence."_

"I don't know if you forgot, Chelsey, but you're in _my_ head, and I know I killed you and I'm sorry. But I honestly don't give a crap about your feelings anymore."

Anna waited for Chelsey to give some sarcastic remark but it was silent.

"Hello?" Anna said as she sat up, but there was no response.

Anna smirked and looked back up at the crack on the ceiling.

For once, there was silence.

Anna took that advantage and flopped back down on her bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Kara plopped down on her bed for the first time in months and it felt amazing.

She brought her phone up to her face to see if Owen had sent her a text, but her inbox was empty.

Owen was being questioned by the police right now, and he said he would text Kara and tell her how it went afterwards, but there still wasn't any texts.

He's been at the police station for a few hours now, what else could they possibly be talking about?

She took a deep breath in and Kara wrinkled up her nose when she smelt something bad.

She took another deep breath and she was ashamed when she realized it was her.

She actually couldn't remember the last time she had a proper shower. Yeah, the hospital had showers but they had old shampoo and no conditioner and no body wash, so it was barley a shower and Kara rarely used them.

She got up and walked to her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked nasty, as suspected.

Kara turned to the shower and turned it on. She put it all the way on hot. Her body was freezing, and it's been that way since the first night in the warehouse, but feeling the hot water on her hand made her feel warm.

She stripped naked and she looked at herself and saw that she was still extremely skinny and she could see the edges of her ribs poking out, but that's okay.

The only thing that mattered right now was that her heartbeat was beating strong.

She turned away from the mirror and stepped in the steaming hot shower. She stood there for a few minutes as she let the water wash off her body and when she looked at the water rushing off of her, she saw that there was a tint of brown from all the dirt.

She took her bar of soap and scrubbed everywhere and Kara found herself actually smiling.

She was so happy right now. Owen was back, Kara and her friends were home, their parents were safe and Victoria was under constant watch. It would be better if she was behind bars, but still. There was also the fact that Kara was _finally_ able to shower after what's felt like a million years.

She stayed in there for god knows how long and when she got out; she heard her text tone ringing like crazy. Kara quickly wrapped her towel around her body and walked to her phone.

There were tons of text messages from her friends in a group chat. She scanned through them quickly.

 **Kara, did you hear?!**

 **-Zoe**

 **Did your parents tell you yet, omg?**

 **-Rose**

 **I just heard it too. That's crazy, why would she do that?**

 **-Anna**

 **Who knows.**

 **-Zoe**

 **Well, she is insane.**

 **-Rose**

 **KARA WHERE ARE YOU!**

 **-Anna**

Kara's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as she quickly typed back.

 **What the hell is going on?**

 **-Kara**

There was a good ten seconds before someone replied.

 **You didn't hear?**

 **-Rose**

 **No, I was in the shower. What happened?**

 **-Kara**

Nobody replied.

Kara sat down on her bed and tightened her towel.

 **What happened?**

 **-Kara**

She typed angrily. This time, it was twenty seconds before someone replied.

 **Victoria confessed.**

 **-Zoe**

Kara's jaw dropped. Her fingers shook as she dialed all of their numbers in a group call.

They all answered.

"What!?" Kara said as she paced around her room. She grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a large T-shirt and threw it on. She allowed her wet hair to drip down her back.

"Victoria confessed." Zoe repeated her text.

Kara stared at herself in the mirror. "What do you mean she confessed?"

"We mean she confessed to everything, Kara. The texts, the attacks, the kidnapping, the torture. Everything." Rose said, her voice calm and smooth.

Kara put her hand up to her mouth. "She confessed?"

"Yes!" Anna yelled on the other side of the line. "And she's being shipped off to a prison in Virginia tomorrow. We'll never have to see her again."

Kara ran fingers through her hair. "When did she confess?"

"She confessed when we disappeared when we went to find Owen." Zoe said. "She must have been pressured into it."

"So were in the clear?" Kara asked as she opened up her door.

"We're in the clear." Rose's voice said.

"And not only that, but all charges against you have been cleared, Kara." Anna said happily. "My dad told me."

Kara pulled her phone down from her ear and ended the call without saying goodbye.

She set the phone down on her nightstand and ran down the stairs.

"Mom, Dad!" She yelled as she ran down the stairs.

They were sitting on the couch with their phones both in their hands. They both looked shocked.

"Do you know?" Kara asked, her voice quiet.

Hanna nodded. "She confessed."

Caleb looked from his wife to his daughter. "She…confessed."

Kara smiled. "She confessed!"

Now they were all smiling. Hanna and Caleb stood up and Kara ran over to them.

She ran into their arms and smiled into their chests.

"It's over!" Kara said with glee.

Her parents were silent as they hugged her.

Kara squeezed them tightly and took a deep breath in. This felt like a huge weight off her shoulders.

She broke apart from her parents and looked at the complete happiness and shock on both of their faces.

Kara exhaled a deep breath.

"It's over." She said with a smile. "We won."

* * *

 **AN: So that was the second to last chapter and that also means that that was the last perspectives of both Anna and Kara that I'm going to write :(**

 **Again, I am sorry that this chapter was so short but like I said, it is the end and everything is coming to a conclusion so there isn't much to say.**

 **And it pains me to know that this is the last time I'm going to say this but…**

 **See you next week!**

 **-Jessica**


	59. The End

**AN: Rhonakimcastillo and BigtimeHope12839 followed and favorited and doodledinky followed, thanks!**

 **Alright guys, last chapter. I'm not really sure how it's going to go, but I'm going to make it as happy as possible and I hope you enjoy :)**

 **And let's be happy as I saw this for the last time…**

 **Let's get to it!**

* * *

 _ **Three months later:**_

The small knock at the door made Rose wake up from her nap. She squinted her eyes as she looked through the window and she Zak's familiar red Honda in the driveway.

She sprung up from the couch and opened the door.

"Hi." She said as she smiled.

He smiled back. "Hi."

Rose stepped aside and let Zak come in.

"Is anyone home?" He asked as he stepped inside.

Rose closed the door and shook her head. "Nope. It's just me."

"Good." He said with a smirk. He then leaned into Rose and connected his lips to hers. The stayed like this for minutes as Rose felt his hand slowly slide down her back.

Rose broke apart for a second and looked at him. "What are you doing?" She asked with a small smile.

He put his hands on Rose's cheeks and stared right into her eyes. "I just love you."

Rose smiled and kissed him again. This time, she acted a little more seductive and she started to tug on his shirt.

This time, he broke off. "Do you want to?"

Rose looked at him and remembered every moment she had ever spent with him. She remembered all the struggles and all the complications, like age and you know…him being A, but that was all over now.

She bit her lip. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" He asked in a calm voice.

Rose tugged at the bottom of his shirt. "Yeah, I'm ready."

He nodded with a slight smirk on his face and Rose grabbed onto his hand and she led him up to her room.

She and her family were finally able to move back into their house. They used these last few months of calmness to get it renovated and move in all the furniture, and now that it was done, Rose honestly couldn't find any difference from the house now and the house before the fire. It looked almost _exact._

She opened the door to her room and she pulled Zak into it. She had cleaned her room last night, thank _god,_ so it looked nice and presentable.

She turned to him and he slowly took off his shirt.

She was surprised to see that he had a tattoo on his shoulder. She walked over to him and gently touched it. It was a tattoo of a rose.

"When did you get this?" She asked as she touched it.

"I got it my freshman year of college." He answered. "Before I met you."

Rose laughed. "What a coincidence."

He turned around and looked in Rose's eyes. "It's beautiful." Rose said as he stared back. "Why did you get a rose?"

"Because the rose symbolized beauty, and I wanted it there to remind me to not forget to look for the beauty in things."

Rose smiled and leaned in and kissed him again.

Everything else that happened after that was incredible. It was so perfect, and it went exactly how Rose imagined it would.

Once the two had calmed down, Rose got out of her bed and walked over to her closet. She searched through the hangers until she found her sweatshirt that Zak had given her so long ago.

"Are you okay?" He asked as Rose put the shirt over her head.

She nodded. "I'm perfect."

He smiled and got up. He grabbed his jeans and slipped them on, but he remained shirtless. Rose didn't mind.

She looked at the clock and sighed. "You should probably leave soon."

He walked over to Rose and slipped his hands into the sweatshirt's pocket.

"Do I have to?" He asked in seductive tone.

Rose felt herself shiver. She really didn't want him to leave.

Despite her lust, she said, "Sadly, yes. My mom is going to be home soon. She's taking me clothes shopping for school."

Zak took a deep breath and took a step back. "You're going back to school? In the middle of the year?"

Rose picked up her perfume and sprayed it on herself. "I want to graduate with my class."

"But it's halfway through the year." Zak pointed out.

"I know that, Zak." Rose said as she put her hair up into a messy bun. "Zoe, Kara, Anna and I have all been taking online classes these last three months so were caught up."

Zak grinned. "I'm impressed."

She walked over to him and saw down on the bed next to him. "You should be. After being kidnapped and tortured we still only focus on our academics."

Zak chuckled and grabbed her hand. "It still amazes me on how brave you are."

"Well get used to it." Rose said as she grabbed his chin. "I think I'm going to be brave more often."

He smiled and the two kissed.

Rose pulled away and put a hand on his shoulder. "But you seriously need to leave."

He playfully rolled his eyes and stood up. "If I have to."

"Well, you have too." Rose said as she threw his shirt at him.

He caught the shirt and slipped it on. Rose walked him to the door and slowly opened it for him.

"I'll see you soon?" He asked.

Rose nodded. "Really soon." She sent him a seductive smile.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too."

He smiled and Rose closed the door. She wanted to fling it back open and jump into his arms but she didn't.

She just leaned on the door and thought of his face.

It was kind a weird. The two were actually acting like a normal couple now. A was gone and any threat of Victoria vanished, so they could actually go out in public and not have to worry about getting stabbed.

Rose didn't know how long she stayed like this leaning on the door, but she jumped when she heard a car honking outside.

She turned around and saw her mom's car in the driveway. Rose threw on her Ugg boots and opened the front door and locked I behind her.

She happily ran to her mom's car and for once in her life, she actually felt like a normal teenager.

Finally.

* * *

Zoe groaned as she wrapped her towel around her body and stepped outside of the shower.

She opened the door to the bathroom and when she stepped out she gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked Cory as she tightened her towel around her body.

He blushed as he looked at Zoe. "Your parents said you were home and that I could come up here."

Zoe also blushed as she felt his eyes on her. "Well, could you…like turn away?"

He smiled and nodded. He closed his eyes and turned around.

Zoe shook her head playfully as she grabbed her clothes that she set out on her dresser and she slipped on her underwear under the towel and she clipped her bra on over the towel and then slid the towel off.

She turned back around once her underwear and bra was on and her jaw dropped when she saw Cory staring at her.

"I said turn around!" Zoe yelled, but she honestly wasn't that angry.

"I'm sorry." He said with a smirk. "I couldn't help it."

Zoe looked down at her partially nude self. Did she look good? Her underwear was at least a year old and the black was faded and it looked gray, and her bra was an ugly shade of yellow and she was starting to outgrow it.

She looked at her stomach. She could still see her ribs a little, but she had gained a respectable amount of weight in the last three months.

Zoe put a fallen piece of blond hair behind her ear and grabbed the sweatshirt she had set out.

When she put it on, she saw that it was way too big and it stopped just below her butt.

She looked back at herself in the mirror and she saw that Cory was standing behind her.

Her heart raced a little bit at him suddenly being there, but she calmed down when she saw it was just him.

Zoe turned around to look at him and she opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly bent down and kissed her.

She kissed back gratefully, but when it started to get more intense, she broke away from it.

"No." She said strictly.

Cory looked hurt. "No what?"

Zoe turned around and grabbed her pants. "I'm not ready to do that yet."

Cory was silent as she put her pants on but when she turned around, she couldn't really read the expression on his face.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't think now is the right time." Zoe said with guilt in her voice.

He slightly shook his head. "I wasn't trying to have sex with you, Zoe. I was just kissing you."

Zoe looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"You don't have to say anything, Zoe." He said as he grabbed Zoe's chin and made him look at her. "I get it."

Zoe looked at him and nodded.

She was honestly so mad at herself. If she would just get over herself, then maybe they wouldn't have to argue about this.

"I just feel bad." Zoe said as she stepped back. She leaned on her wall.

"You don't have to feel bad about anything." He said in a strict tone. "You've been through a lot."

Zoe crossed her arms. "It happened over a year ago, Cory. You would think I would be over it now, and he did _die_ and I know he can't hurt me anymore, but I still can't forget about it and because of my stupid self, we can't do half the stuff that normal couples do."

Cory laughed. "That's because we aren't like normal couples, Zoe."

Zoe looked at him. "I'm serious, Cory."

"I'm serious too."

Zoe itched the back of her neck. "I'll be ready one day."

"And I'll be waiting."

Zoe smiled and gave him a small peck on the lips.

 _KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK!_

Zoe and Cory both jumped at the sudden sound but Zoe regained herself and looked at the door.

"Yes?" She said calmly.

"You need to get to bed soon, Zoe, you have school tomorrow!" Emily's voice called.

"And that also means you need to leave, Cory!" Alison's voice added.

Zoe rolled her eyes and looked at Cory.

"Bye." She said to him.

"Bye." He said back calmly.

Zoe then opened the door and she saw both of her moms standing in the hallway with smirks on their faces.

Cory said his goodbyes to both of them as he walked down the hall, down the stairs and out the door.

Once the door was closed, Alison and Emily stared at her.

"What happened?" Emily asked eagerly.

"What did you guys do?" Alison said right after Emily shut her mouth.

"I was stupid, that's what happened." Zoe said as she leaned on her doorway.

Emily and Alison's faces fell.

"What do you mean?" Alison asked.

Zoe shook her head angrily. "He kissed me and I automatically thought that he wanted to have sex and when I yelled at him he said it wasn't his intention at all and I just sounded dumb!"

Emily and Alison looked at each other and then at Zoe.

"That's okay, Zoe, we all make mistakes." Emily said calmly.

Zoe put a hand to her forehead. "I just sounded so stupid."

"There's always tomorrow." Alison said with a slight smile.

Zoe looked at her. "You're right, mom."

Emily took a step forwards. "Speaking of tomorrow, you have school, so go to bed!" She said in a jokingly stern tone.

Zoe rolled her eyes playfully. "Okay." She said as she walked into her room. She turned around and looked at her parents again. "Good night."

"Good night." They said in unison.

Zoe closed the door and wrapped herself in her covers.

Her mind kept thinking about her and Cory's conversation, but she tried her best to not think about it.

She had much bigger things to worry about.

Things like school.

* * *

 _ **The next morning:**_

 _The next morning was pretty nerve racking for the girls. They all knew that they were going to get strange looks from all of their classmates. They were the missing girls of Rosewood after all._

 _With butterflies in all of their stomachs, they got in their cars and parked in the school parking lot, preparing to meet at the front of the school._

 _Anna was there first. She kept having nightmares that night about how she would miss their meeting and that her friends would walk in without her and she would be left to roam the hallways alone as everyone watched her._

 _Rose looked at herself in her rear-view mirror and pulled a stray hair back into her ponytail. She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. "You got this." She said to herself. She then opened her car door and walked over to Anna at the stairs._

 _Kara grabbed her backpack from the back seat of the car and rummaged through it frantically. She groaned when she saw that she forgot a pencil. She looked up at the school with tired eyes, she was up all night as she thought about everything that could go wrong today, and it was all coming true. Kara shook her head to clear her thoughts and she slipped her backpack on her back. Anna was sure to have tons of extra pencils, she was always over prepared. She walked over to the front of the school and she already felt eyes on her back, but she brushed it off when she saw Anna and Rose standing in front of the school waiting for her. Just the sight of her friends made her feel better._

 _Zoe had made a wrong turn somewhere and she was frantically driving back to the school. She was too busy worrying about everything that might happen today that she didn't realize she'd missed the turn into the parking lot. She managed to find the parking lot and her tires screeched as she turned into it. She saw Anna's car and she parked next to it. She didn't hesitate to jump out of the car and run for the front of the school. She saw the three other girls waiting for her and a smile crossed her face as she walked to them._

 _The four girls being together seemed to wash away all the worries that they had. The girls seemed to always be okay when they were together, and today it seemed especially fitting._

 _They all stared at the building, and then at each other. Their stomachs twisted at the thought about the looks they might get, but they were together and that was good. If they could make it through being kidnapped by A, they could survive school._

 _The school bell rang signaling that they had ten minutes to get to class. Their eyes met and they all knew that it was time._

 _One reached their hand out and another grabbed it and soon, all their fingers were locked._

 _With confident looks on their faces and with their bodies standing up straight, they marched up the steps of Rosewood High School and through the front doors._

 _Yes, they did get looks, but they didn't care. Their biggest struggle was gone._

 _From this day forwards, these pretty little bitches never heard the name of Victoria Vanderwaal again. They never got a threatening text message and they were never followed home. They got to live their senior year in peace, and the only A's they saw were at the tops of their homework assignments._

 _A was gone and their lives were put back on track._

 _Everything was normal._

 _Anna Cavanaugh, Rose Fitz, Kara Rivers and Zoe DiLafields were never bothered again._

 _They won._

* * *

 **AN: Okay, I'm crying. And it's not helpful that I'm listening to sad music right now.**

 **This was very emotional to write, but I really hope that you all liked it and that you are happy with how it ended.**

 **I don't know if I'll ever write another story because I'll never be as dedicated as I was with this one, but who knows. I would still look out for it.**

 **I want to thank everyone who has ever even clicked on my story for giving me an amazing opportunity to experiment with my own imagination. Because of all of you, I was able to push myself to write my very own story and I loved absolutely every second of it.**

 **It was an amazing year and there is no way I can describe how grateful I am with how everything turned out.**

 **I love you all so much.**

 **-Jessica**


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